Illuminating the Darkness
by Lucy May
Summary: Tsuzuki and Hisoka set forth on a new case that will challenge them both in ways they've never expected, as pieces of the past that Tsuzuki never speaks of begin to surface. Fourth installment in the Sweetness series.TsuXSoka ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This is the fourth installment in a series, beginning with Sweetness, Ephemeral and the Imaginary World. In all honesty, I have my doubts as to whether it will ever be finished, so be forewarned._

Tsuzuki gave a sigh of relief and shook his head sadly as the old woman faded from sight, leaving only her earthly body behind in the darkened back room of the closed pet shop. He had finally managed to send her to what he hoped would be a better place after two weeks of trying to determine and resolve the reason she had outstayed her time among the living for so long. She had been listed on the Kiseki for nearly a month, but had refused to move on for fear of what would become of her pet shop, as she was the last one surviving among her relatives, with the exception of a daughter that she had given up for adoption when she was very young.

Chief Konoe had been a bit impatient with him as he had tried and finally succeeded in helping the woman find her long lost daughter, but Tatsumi had intervened on his behalf, and using the resources of the Gushoshin's records, he had managed to locate her quickly.

Despite collecting reluctant souls being an aspect of his job that he hardly enjoyed, and being saddened that he couldn't give the woman more time with her new found daughter, there had been a few pleasant aspects of their latest closed case. Hisoka had seemed to relish his undercover role as a nice boy taking his first job in a pet shop. Tsuzuki had been surprised at the affinity the young man seemed to have with taking care of the animals. He found it rather adorable.

He watched as the quiet boy cradled one the shop's kittens, nuzzling it affectionately as his wide green eyes rose to meet Tsuzuki's. Tsuzuki smiled and sniffed, before having a particularly bad sneezing fit and causing the feline to panic and jump from Hisoka's arms. Another thing he had discovered on this case was that he had a rather nasty allergy to cats.

Hisoka gave a funny little half smile, scooping the kitten from the floor and returning him to his cage.

"So it's finished?" Hisoka asked, handing his partner a handkerchief. Tsuzuki nodded.

"Goodbye," Hisoka said softly to the five kittens in the cage he'd just locked. Tsuzuki wiped his watering eyes, and smiled at his partner lovingly.

"I'm afraid with my allergies we can only take one back home with us," Tsuzuki said. Hisoka's eyes widened.

"B - but, with your allergies, we shouldn't take any of them!" Hisoka said incredulously. Tsuzuki cocked his head to one side with a pouting look, and caressed Hisoka's cheek with his fingers.

"But I can't let you leave without a kitty!" Tsuzuki cried, glancing at the tiny mewing creatures in the cage. Hisoka looked from Tsuzuki to the kittens thoughtfully, and looked back to Tsuzuki with gratitude before unlatching the enclosure and lifting out an orange tabby kitten.

_He would pick the one with the thickest fur_, Tsuzuki thought with a grimace, his sinuses burning.

"We'll see if Watari can find some sort of cure, okay?" Hisoka said hopefully, twitching his finger before the little cat's nose, who swatted at it with his paw.

xxxx

"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka called, entering their darkened apartment cautiously.

Receiving no answer, he sighed heavily and flipped on the lights, his heart heavy with concern. Not long before, the pair of shinigami had been attending Chief Konoe's birthday party when a sudden, unexpected change had come over his usually cheerful partner. He had sensed dread and fear before Tsuzuki had fled the place without a word, his black coat dissolving into the night as Hisoka tried to follow him.

He had tried to piece together what had upset his lover so greatly on his way back to their home, going carefully over their evening. Tatsumi and Watari had been planning a surprise get together to honor the head of the summons department for nearly a week, and Tsuzuki had been enthusiastic about the event, especially in its promise of free food and alcohol. The party had seemed to go well, the Chief seemed pleased and in good spirits, and Tsuzuki had appeared to be having a good time. He had indulged in quite a bit of cake and sake, and Hisoka had found himself even willing to be good natured through a bit of teasing from Saya and Yuma for his sake, which seemed to make him even happier.

Watari had been working on a project for the event that he had kept top secret from everyone, and they were all surprised to find that the fruit of his efforts had come from the dusty confines of the research department rather than from his lab. Instead of any ponderous gadget devised for the occasion by the eccentric scientist, he had instead pulled out a slide projector to give a retrospective of Chief Konoe's long and respected career, beginning with his early days as a shinigami.

Yes, Hisoka thought to himself, it was around this time that he first began to sense some tension from Tsuzuki.

Puzzling over what this all meant, Hisoka toed off his shoes and tread silently to their bedroom, peering inside and finding it completely black. He heard Cousa meow, and felt the cat rub against his leg, pushing her away gently with his foot. Feeling his way through the familiar space, he reached the chair beside the bed and began to undress as his eyes slowly adjusted to the slim beam of moonlight that shone through the curtains.

"I feel you, Tsuzuki. I know that you're trying to block me out, but you're there," Hisoka whispered to a vague dark shadow in the corner of the room. He waited for a reply or a glimpse of movement, but the shadow remained still.

"Suit yourself," Hisoka said, feeling overwhelmed with anger and hurt as he laid his jeans and shirt aside and made his way to the bathroom door in the dim light. He heard Cousa hiss and growl, before making out her small shadow fleeing the room.

He was completely startled to find the light within the bathroom peeking beneath the door, and cried out with alarm as the door swung open, revealing Tsuzuki inside.

"Who are you talking to, Hisoka?" Tsuzuki asked softly, as the boy glanced around dizzily in the glaring light to where he'd seen the shadowy form.

There was no one else in the bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

"I thought I saw someone else in the room just now," Hisoka said, startled. Tsuzuki walked into the bedroom, looking around with a frown.

"There's no one here, Hisoka," Tsuzuki said somberly.

"But I could have sworn --" Hisoka said, looking to the empty corner that he was certain had been occupied just moments before.

"If you'd like I can check the other rooms," Tsuzuki offered with a weary sigh.

"No, that's okay. It must have been some trick of the light," Hisoka said. No one could have left the room that quickly without being seen, he told himself, though he still felt the adrenaline of the shock.

"I'm through in here, if you need a bath," Tsuzuki said, noting Hisoka's state of undress and stepping out of his way.

Hisoka studied his face, still trying to understand the change that had come over his lover. He had never felt Tsuzuki guard his emotions so intensely before, and it made his head ache slightly as he tried to focus on any familiar thread of the other's mind.

"What's wrong with you, Tsuzuki? Please, tell me what is going on," Hisoka said with a pleading look. Tsuzuki walked past him to the bed, refusing to meet his eyes, and removed his bathrobe.

"It's nothing, baby. I'm going to get some sleep, okay?" Tsuzuki said at last. Hisoka nodded, reaching inside the bathroom door to flick off the light.

"Aren't you going to take a bath?" Tsuzuki asked, as Hisoka crossed the darkened room towards the bed.

"No," Hisoka said, crawling beneath the covers beside Tsuzuki and nuzzling into the older man's side. Tsuzuki sighed, reluctantly adjusting and wrapping his arms around him.

"I really can't tonight, baby," Tsuzuki whispered, the pain in his voice the first hint of emotion he had displayed since Hisoka returned home.

"That's not -- just hold me, okay?" Hisoka said, feeling overcome with a sense of despair that he wasn't sure was his lover's or his own.

"Sure, baby," Tsuzuki said, his voice trembling, as Hisoka clung to him tightly.

Cousa returned to the bedroom with a meow, and jumped onto the bed, kneading her claws in the covers before settling on Hisoka's hip.

"Watari's potion seems to be helping," Hisoka said, scratching the kitten's head with his free hand, the other tucked beneath Tsuzuki's waist.

"Hmm?" Tsuzuki murmured, as if being brought out of deep thought.

"The allergy potion," Hisoka said, looking up and trying to make out Tsuzuki's face in the darkness.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Tsuzuki said. "Watari knows his stuff."

The pair fell into an uneasy silence, Tsuzuki eventually breaking free from their embrace and turning on his side without a word. Hisoka drifted into a troubled sleep, feeling colder than he ever had with Tsuzuki so close by his side.

xxxx

The following day found their moods still heavy, and they talked little over the slightly burnt toast and eggs Tsuzuki had gotten up early to make them. Looking at his bloodshot eyes and listless nature, Hisoka wondered just how much earlier his partner had awakened, or if he had indeed slept at all.

Almost immediately after their arrival at the summons department office, Tatsumi had called Tsuzuki into Chief Konoe's office to speak with him alone. Hisoka stared at the door that shut behind them, blocking him once more from any knowledge, with a look of helplessness and irritation, as Watari approached him from where he had been making copies on the bulky, outdated machine that Tatsumi had refused to replace.

"It still works fine. Why would we need a new one?" Watari mimicked, rolling his eyes as he tried to make out the document he had just made a copy of. "So, what are you doing out here if Tsuzuki's in there?"

"I wouldn't mind knowing that myself, Watari. Not that he'll see fit to share the reason when he comes back," Hisoka said irritably, shaking his head.

"Trouble in paradise, little one?" Watari asked with a wink, earning a glare from Hisoka.

"Well, then. Would you like to wait in the lab with me? I've just put some coffee on," Watari suggested.

"I don't think so, Watari. I'm really not in the mood to be one of your guinea pigs," Hisoka said. Watari shrugged.

"Oh, well, I thought you might want to be somewhere else instead of out here like a sitting duck for Saya and Yuma, but if you're sure --" Watari said with a grin.

"They're still here?" Hisoka asked with panic, and started to walk quickly out of the door and down the hall, beating the scientist to the lab as he followed behind him with a laugh.

Watari pulled a rolling chair up to the table where Hisoka had settled, bring over two mugs of coffee.

"It's safe, I promise," Watari said, as Hisoka eyed the liquid in his cup suspiciously.

"If I end up another gender or age of any kind, I'll kill you with my bare hands," Hisoka said before taking a sip.

"Naturally," Watari said without concern. "I think Tsuzuki might even beat you to it. He loves you just the way you are, a pretty young boy." Hisoka blushed deeply, making the death glare he gave decidedly ineffective.

"You make him sound like a pervert or something," Hisoka said, looking away. Watari merely grinned enigmatically.

"The allergy medicine seems to helping," Hisoka said, eager to change the subject. "Tsuzuki hasn't sneezed around Cousa once since you gave it to him."

"Yes," Watari said, looking thoughtful, "about that. Hisoka, has something been happening that Tsuzuki is upset about?"

"What are you talking about? How did you --" Hisoka started, looking at him with surprise.

"Well, it's just that Tatsumi suggested that when Tsuzuki came to get more of it from me today, that I offer him access to a special sedative," Watari said.

"Sedative? What kind of sedative?" Hisoka asked.

"One that helps with memories and bad dreams," Watari said. "You yourself took a mild form of it once, if you'll recall. When I looked through big fella's files, I saw that he was prescribed a much more potent form many years ago when he first became a shinigami. This was some time before I myself came here, of course."

"Did you ask Tatsumi why?" Hisoka asked. Watari gave a sad smile.

"No. I'm afraid I'm kept as much in the dark as you are when it comes to these things," Watari said with a meaningful glance. Hisoka sighed deeply, staring off at noting in particular. Watari patted his hand impulsively, pleased when the shy young man did not recoil.

"Tell me what is on your mind, little one," Watari said. Hisoka glanced at him, then away again, with a heavy frown.

"I just don't know what to do," Hisoka said softly. "I'm afraid that if I push too much, that I'll push him away. But it hurts."

"You feel like he doesn't trust you enough to tell you the truth," Watari said. Hisoka nodded.

"Anyone who knows Tsuzuki for long soon figures out that he has a lot of deeper problems under the surface. Sometimes I feel like I really don't know him any better than anyone else," Hisoka said.

"I think one of the reasons that you work so well for him Hisoka is that he knows that he can be himself with you without your leaving him because of it," Watari said. "I'm sure that he's let you closer than anyone."

"Is he being himself?" Hisoka asked, looking Watari in the eye.

"As much as he knows how to be," Watari said. "You've accepted that about him more than anyone else, Hisoka."

"It hasn't been easy to make him feel accepted. I've learned to stay silent when I wanted to ask questions just so that I won't make him think that what I feel for him has any conditions. But sometimes, when I feel him blocking me so strongly, I feel helpless. I feel like he won't let me help him because he thinks I'll stop loving him if I see his problems. It's not fair to me," Hisoka said, crossing his arms and looking down at the table, his lips trembling. "If he only knew how much I love him. Why can't I convince him that it's enough? He's the first person in my existence that ever really loved me, and he won't let me help --" Hisoka's voice choked, as he angrily wiped away a tear. Watari made a soothing shushing sound.

"I know, little one. You make the sacrifice of calming his insecurities by accepting his silence, while he's playing upon yours by not allowing you to accept the truth instead," Watari said gently. "But it's not because he doesn't think you are worthy in confiding in, Hisoka. He believes he is protecting something precious and pure from the darker side of himself, his past."

"He confides in Tatsumi and Konoe though. They seem to know what's going on," Hisoka said bitterly.

"Tatsumi doesn't know much more than we do. He just happened to be there at a time before Tsuzuki had became so adept at guarding his emotions. He told me that Tsuzuki was an emotional wreck then, and that he didn't know how to deal with it. It reminded him too strongly of the dark parts of his own past. That's why he'll do anything to help him to help him deal with it, to see him happy," Watari said.

"He once loved him, didn't he?" Hisoka asked. "When I first realized that I had fallen -- when I first knew how I felt, it used to bother me that they seemed to share something that I didn't fully understand."

"Oh, Tatsumi's always had a soft spot for big fella, but it's nothing you need to worry about, trust me. He already has his hands full," Watari said with a grin. "As for Konoe, I've little doubt that he knows a lot more than we do, but he has his professional discretion. All I know is that I stepped on his toes somehow last night, and that it had something to do with Tsuzuki. I don't know what he was afraid I was going to uncover, really. The records I found were spotty at best, and there was no sense in asking him about it. It's like trying to bleed a rock, getting gossip out of that man." Hisoka frowned, pushing his coffee away and standing.

"I think I'm going to go back to the office," Hisoka said. He turned back to Watari before opening the door. "You drugged my coffee, didn't you, you nosy bastard?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Watari said. Hisoka paused once more.

"Watari? Have you ever seen a ghost?" Hisoka asked uncertainly.

"No, little one. Why do you ask?" Watari asked. Hisoka shrugged.

"No reason," Hisoka said, adding as a reluctant afterthought, "Thanks."


	3. Chapter 3

Hisoka looked up in surprise, as Tsuzuki stood outside the door to the lab, smiling sadly. Hisoka shook his head and looked again, as if he had to be imagining things, and almost jumped as he felt himself being wrapped tightly in a pair of open arms.

"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka croaked weakly from where his face was pressed against the other man's chest, only to find himself clutched tighter.

"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry that I was such a meanie last night, and that I didn't make love to you and that I -" Tsuzuki cried loudly, before being shoved off with a force that nearly threw him to the ground. Hisoka was bright red, with embarrassment and fury.

"Tsuzuki! Don't say stuff like that! Don't you know where we are?" Hisoka pleaded, looking in disbelief at Tsuzuki's puppyish features and wondering what the hell had happened in so short a time.

"Sorry! Sorry! Let's never fight again, okay?" Tsuzuki whimpered, looking down at him with glistening eyes.

"We didn't fight," Hisoka said lamely, his head swimming with confusion, as he stepped back to find himself bumping into Watari.

"You cad! What did you do to your baby? Imagine, neglecting his needs in such a way!" Watari cried, giving Hisoka a pat on the head.

"Watari, for the love of God, go back to your lab before I hurt you," Hisoka said slowly, his eyes dark. Watari stepped quickly back to safety, shutting the door behind him without so much as a glib reply. Tsuzuki cocked his head, looking at him with awe.

"You're so scary when you want to be, Hisoka," Tsuzuki said. Hisoka took a deep breath, studying his lover carefully as he tried to calm down.

"Tsuzuki, would you care to explain exactly why the hell you're acting as if nothing happened?" Hisoka asked. Tsuzuki's face darkened, his expression more like it had been since the following evening.

"No, Hisoka, I wouldn't. Please drop it," Tsuzuki said soberly, before stepping past him into the lab. "Wait for me in the office. I'll see you there in a minute," he said, before closing the door behind him.

Hisoka stomped back down the hall, not stopping until he had flung open the door to Chief Konoe's office.

"Would either of you mind explaining to me what is happening here, and how it relates to Tsuzuki acting like Jekyll and Hyde all of the sudden?" Hisoka demanded from the two startled men inside.

"Tatsumi, will you please handle this? I've had enough of this drama for one day," Konoe said, holding the bridge of his nose with a weary sigh. Tatsumi nodded calmly, taking Hisoka by the arm carefully and leading him into the adjoining meeting room.

"Hisoka," Tatsumi began, looking at the boy with sympathetic blue eyes. "I know this all has to be very confusing for you, and I am sorry. Watari made a little mistake last evening, and I'm afraid it triggered some reaction from Tsuzuki that it really shouldn't have. He should have known Watari would never - that we would never allow anyone access to such volatile information so easily -" Tatsumi shook his head uncertainly. Hisoka felt a wave of guilt coming from the other man that made his stomach clench tightly.

"Tatsumi," Hisoka said, as calmly as he could manage. "What was Tsuzuki so afraid that Watari was going to uncover by researching Chief Konoe's career as a shinigami?" Tatsumi looked at him with surprise.

"You've already narrowed it down quite succinctly, I see. That is why you make such an effective partner for him, with your shrewd perception," Tatsumi said with a small smile.

"You're avoiding answering me," Hisoka said quickly. "Tell me what you know." Tasumi shook his head.

"I honestly don't know much more than what you've already figured out for yourself. Tsuzuki never told me anything, and I respect his wishes too highly to pry," Tatsumi said, leveling the younger man with a steady gaze.

"I don't think I like what you're insinuating, Tatsumi," Hisoka said with a glare. "I love him, and I want to help him, and unlike you, I don't just sit back and let things happen as they will." Tatsumi flinched, recalling all too well the day he had decided that loving Tsuzuki meant letting him go, while Hisoka had dove into the flames to save him.

"If you're not going to give me any answers, than I'll just go to Konoe myself," Hisoka said, turning on his heel. Tatsumi gripped his arm firmly, and turned him to face him.

"Hisoka, don't. You don't want it this way. These things are not Chief Konoe's to tell and you know it. There is only one person who has any right to give you answers, and you're just going to have to continue to be patient with him, as you always have," Tatsumi said.

"We have our different ways of showing how we care for Tsuzuki, and I've known for a long time that the way that you love him is what is best for him. You've done for him what none of us have ever been able to do for him, and I don't want to see you destroy that now by forcing him to reopen the very wounds you helped to heal."

Hisoka looked at Tatsumi, absorbing what had been said for a moment with a thoughtful expression, at last allowing his shoulders to slump in defeat.

"I - I think I understand, Tatsumi," Hisoka whispered, looking at the carpet forlornly.

"Good," Tatsumi said. "He is going to need your patience and acceptance like never before right now, Hisoka, and I trust you more than anyone in the world to take care of him." Hisoka looked up at him with concern.

"Has something happened?" Hisoka asked. Tatsumi sighed, and gestured for them both to sit at the empty table.

"It's too early to be certain, but we think Muraki's trial might have heated up once more," Tatsumi said.

"What does Muraki have to do with this?" Hisoka asked. Tatsumi shook his head.

"Far more than we can comprehend, I'm sure. As you know, Muraki knows something vital about Tsuzuki's past. He seems to understand it all too well. We've both seen how he has been able to unnerve him and cause him pain in the past," Tatsumi said. "In fact, for the first time, I am truly reluctant to send him on this particular trail. I'm afraid of what he will find."


	4. Chapter 4

"You're taking us off of the Muraki case, aren't you?" Hisoka asked with disbelief. Tatsumi sighed, then nodded.

"I don't see that I have a lot of choice, Hisoka. I know that you want to go after him for your own reasons, and that you've been able to deal with his mind games, but as for Tsuzuki -- well, to be honest, I think I should have taken him off the case after Kyoto," Tatsumi said.

"We've closed three cases dealing with him since then. I know we weren't able to capture him, but --" Hisoka began.

"No, this isn't a punishment for not apprehending him," Tatsumi said. "And I don't believe that anyone else could have handled those cases any better. This is for his own sake and sanity. You've just seen how even the slightest hint of the past coming to light has affected him. I don't think we should take this kind of risk."

"But no one knows the case like we do. We should be the ones to take him down," Hisoka said.

"This order comes from an authority higher than mine," Tatsumi said with finality. "And Konoe's," he added quickly, seeing Hisoka glance back towards the office door. Hioska's eyes widened in amazement.

"I'm only going to make this offer once, Hisoka," Tatsumi said slowly, with a steady gaze. "As it is, you yourself are not prohibited to follow this lead. We can find you another partner --"

"No," Hisoka said firmly through gritted teeth. "Don't you even dare suggest that I leave him." Tatsumi gave him a small smile.

"You'd give up the very reason you became a shinigami to stay by his side, then?" Tatsumi asked. Hisoka looked away with a pained expression.

"Yes," Hisoka said. "Can you tell me what is being done though? What we know about the case so far?"

"I've already told you more than I should have," Tatsumi said. "But I felt that I owed you an explanation."

"What about Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asked.

"We've already spoken to him. We'll be giving you both paid leave until this matter is put to rest," Tatsumi said, wincing slightly.

"This obviously wasn't you idea, then," Hisoka said thoughtfully. "And he accepted it? Just like that?" Tatsumi nodded.

"I can't believe this," Hisoka said, his head swimming.

"Tsuzuki understands that we're only acting in his best interest," Tatsumi said. "Everything is being put into capable hands, Hisoka. Take care of him."

Tatsumi stood and left the room without another word.

xxxx

"Did you talk to Tatsumi?" Tsuzuki asked as Hisoka entered the small office they shared. Hisoka nodded.

Tsuzuki shoved back the mountain of paperwork and personal effects cluttering his desk and perched on its edge, nodding at the seat in front of him. Hisoka sat, peering up at him expectantly, as Tsuzuki reached down and took both his hands in his.

"Hisoka," Tsuzuki started, his voice unsteady with emotion and uncertainty as he studied the younger man's face. "I know that you love me, and that you're stubborn, but I really think that you should go after him. I'm holding you back from something that is too important for you to give up on. There are things -- things you might find out when you go -- I can't explain them myself, because even I don't understand it all -- but I don't think it would be right of me to stand in your way."

Hisoka sat very still, staring back at him intensely, trying and failing to read anything other that the emotions revealed in Tsuzuki's voice. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, until Hisoka shook free of his hands and stood, flinging his arms around him tightly.

"Baka," Hisoka said softly. "I'm never going to leave you, you got that?"

"I thought that's what you might say," Tsuzuki said with a sigh, kissing him behind the ear as he tightened their embrace. "Are you ready to go home?"

Hisoka nodded, and the pair broke apart to give each other a last loving look before fading and reappearing back at their home. Without a word, Tsuzuki led the way to the bedroom. Hisoka fought back all the questions and frustration he had, as Tsuzuki let down his guard just enough to let him be engulphed with an overwhelming sense of need.

Their lovemaking was rougher than usual, and Hisoka was able to discern the faintest threads of anger and despair beneath his lover's passion, confusing him greatly as they seemed to mingle with the longing and tenderness that were always there when Tsuzuki lay with him.

As he rested in a sweaty entanglement of limbs afterward, he was not entirely surprised to find that Tsuzuki's labored breaths soon eased into the calm of sleep, and that his usual affectionate pillow talk was forgone to the hold of uneasy dreams.

Hisoka was somewhere between sleeping and waking the next morning, when he thought that he saw the shadows in the darkened corner of the room shift, and sat up with alarm. Cousa arched her tiny back and hissed, from where she had been nestled on the covers beside them.

"You see it, too, don't you?" Hisoka whispered, willing his eyes to focus in the dim light provided by the morning sun peeking through the heavy curtains.

He jumped with a cry of panic, as he felt a hand rest on his arm, jerking around to see two groggy violet eyes peering at him curiously.

"Tsuzuki! Over there," Hisoka urged, pointing to the corner and finding it empty as Tsuzuki sat up and turned on the bedside lamp.

"What was it, Hisoka?" Tsuzuki asked with concern.

"I -- I don't know Tsuzuki. It's like whatever I saw the other night, only it moved this time," Hisoka said with a shudder. Tsuzuki climbed out of bed, turning his back to him as he pulled on his robe.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Hisoka. You know that stress gives you strange dreams," Tsuzuki said, in a strained, weary tone.

"I don't think it was a dream," Hisoka said uncertainly, looking to Tsuzuki for reassurance.

"Why don't you get a shower, and we'll eat out somewhere for breakfast okay?" Tsuzuki said pleasantly, turning back to his partner and kissing him lightly on the head before leaving the room.

"It was there, wasn't it?" Hisoka asked the kitten, who had resumed its nap in the warm spot where Tsuzuki had been. "It looked small, almost like a child," Hisoka mused quietly.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: I had not originally intended to bring back original characters from the previous stories, as it seemed their story had been tied up neatly enough in the last, but after scrapping much of my initial plot line, I have decided to use them again, despite it making this tale in no way a stand alone, like I had planned. But, since they were in all three of the other stories, I guess it only makes sense that they join us again. :)_

Hisoka had finished showering and dressing when a familiar voice carried from the next room. He walked in to find the blonde scientist talking airily to Tsuzuki, who looked as if he were having difficulty concentrating.

"What are you doing away from work?" Hisoka asked, running a towel over his damp hair.

"Well, hello to you too, little one," Watari said with a grin.

"He's going to join us for breakfast if that's okay," Tsuzuki said.

"Sure, that's fine," Hisoka said with a shrug, wondering if Watari had dodged his question for a reason.

"Splendid! I know just the place," Watari said.

xxxx

"I'm surprised that this is what you had in mind," Hisoka said as they sat at a nearby McDonald's, poking at his spongy hot cakes doubtfully.

"Well, Tsuzuki did mention something about missing the breakfasts he had in America," Watari said with a shrug.

"This hardly matches Jarrett's cooking, huh, Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asked with a small smile.

"Oh, don't remind me," Tsuzuki said wistfully. "Biscuits and ham and grits, and that homemade jam --" Tsuzuki trailed off, looking like he may begin drooling.

Watari looked at his watch, and then looked around the tourist filled establishment expectantly.

"Looking for someone, Watari?" Hisoka asked, but before Watari could answer, his jaw dropped. "What are they doing here?"

"Well, who did you think they were going to enlist to work on the case, since they won't use you two?" Watari asked, as Hisoka stood from his seat.

"Hey y'all! I'm so happy to see you," Hy said cheerfully. He limped to their table with surprising speed, leaning his weight upon a wooden cane. He was followed by a rather reserved boy with dark brown hair and pale blue eyes who looked as though he did not want to be there.

The boy who had been half of the pair of shinigami who had assisted them on their last three cases involving Muraki, pulled away from hugging a startled Tsuzuki to give them a confused look.

"But Tatsumi had said that we probably wouldn't be seeing you while we're here," Hy said, looking to each of them for an explanation, and finally settling his gaze on Watari, who had asked them to meet him there. Tsuzuki looked up at the scientist with a pensive frown.

"What are you trying to do, Watari? Tatsumi made it pretty clear that he doesn't want me involved with this case," Tsuzuki asked, his eyes narrowing. Watari met his eyes steadily with soft brown ones.

"I don't think avoiding things helps us to move past them, that's why," Watari said defiantly.

"You could get yourself into a lot of trouble over this, old friend," Tsuzuki said.

"I just think you and the kid have a right to know what is going on. And I think if Tatsumi weren't such a worry wart, he would agree. Coddling you isn't going to help anything," Watari said.

"You sure seem pretty opinionated on a matter you know nothing about," Tsuzuki said. Hisoka looked at him in shock, never before hearing his partner take such a venomous tone with the scientist.

"What in the heck is going on here?" Hy asked, seeming somewhat disturbed by Tsuzuki's demeanor himself.

"We've been taken off of the Muraki case," Hisoka answered him, never taking his gaze from Tsuzuki's face.

"But why?" Hy asked in confusion. "It did seem strange that we were summoned to be put on it when you guys have been following it for so long, but no one offered us much in the way of explanation."

"I -- I don't really have an explanation to give you, either," Hisoka said softly. Tsuzuki did not return his pleading gaze, instead seeming to find the food before him especially interesting.

"Where's Jarrett?" Tsuzuki asked with his mouth full, changing the subject. Hy turned to the boy beside him with an apologetic smile, before looking back at them.

"I don't know where my manners went," Hy drawled. "You guys remember Michael, don't you?" Hy introduced them all formally before continuing. "Jarrett has been promoted to a position just under Josephine now, so he doesn't do much in he way of field work anymore. Michael is my partner now," he said, looking at the other boy proudly. Hisoka gave them a somewhat forced smile.

"So, tell us about the case," Watari said as they two boys took a seat at the table.

"Watari --" Tsuzuki began.

"Have you two been sworn to any kind of confidentiality?" Watari asked. Hy shook his head.

"There then. There's no harm in at least hearing it out then," Watari said, looking pleased with himself.

"We're leaving for Paris tomorrow," Hy said.

"Paris? Watari, wasn't that where we tracked one of Muraki's correspondents to on the Eden case?" Hisoka asked. Watari nodded.

"Yeah, well, Tatsumi said it was that lead that brought the investigation over there. He has been having folks from the French summons department look into things, and have had the Gushoshin follow any reports from the area closely," Hy said.

"We didn't know anything about this," Hisoka said.

"It looks like we've been off of the case for longer than we thought," Tsuzuki added.

"Well, they were looking into this woman named Isha Vemulakonda," Hy said uncertainly, stumbling over the name, and looking at Michael, who nodded. "She was into a lot of weird stuff and had some sort of run in with the law when her family lived in India --" Hy trailed off, looking at Michael.

The other boy's eyes widened slightly with the realization that Hy expected him to speak.

"You tell it better than I do," Hy said pleadingly, then looked at the others. "Michael's kinda shy," he said with an affectionate grin. Michael colored slightly and turned to the other men with a timid look, clearing his throat.

"Isha Vemulakonda's father was a holy man, well known for having an ability to exorcise demons and communicate with the goddess Kali," Michael began softly, his Romanian accent at once apparent. His voice was slightly monotonous in his account, and he did not make eye contact with anyone, looking instead at some vague point behind them. "He traveled through many small villages in India, playing upon both people's superstitions and their faith to influence them to do terrible things, convincing them that it was divine will. Eventually, the authorities caught up with him after he had convinced a village woman to murder the child of a neighbor as a sacrifice.

"After he commited suicide while in prison, Isha and her mother moved to Paris, where she eventually became a student majoring in religious studies, focusing mainly on the history of demonology. She wrote many books on the subject. It is believed that she became acquainted with Muraki Kazutaka when he was studying abroad one semester during his time in medical school. He had been especially fascinated by her father's past and how it had influenced her line of study, and had sought her out while he was in Paris."

"How were they able to discover her connection to Muraki?" Hisoka asked.

"There was an old newspaper article about a lecture she gave, and she was photographed with him. The shinigami investigating the matter interviewed her former colleagues at the university and found that she and Muraki had become good friends during his time in Paris," Michael said.

"Why didn't they just talk to her themselves?" Hisoka asked.

"Isha Vemulakonda was viciously slain and mutilated ten years ago," Michael said.

"Muraki killed her?" Hisoka asked.

"It is possible, but it is equally possible that she was killed by others with whom she was associated," Michael said. "It was uncovered after her murder that she had been deeply involved with the same religious cult that her father had, and that many of his followers had also fled to France. Her mother had taken control in her husband's stead, and they met privately, often in Isha's home.

"It is not unlikely that Muraki became familiar with these people, and that they might have been the ones who assisted him whenever he found his way into Eden. The assigned agents had been watching this group closely for ages, even before they knew of any connection to the Muraki case, and have suspected them for scattered violent crimes for decades now."

"Tatsumi said the case had heated up recently," Hisoka said.

"Well, the strangest part happened before the investigation into Muraki's involvement even began," Michael said, his face tense with concentration. "Members of the cult had begun disappearing without a trace over a period of time. The register shows that most of them are dead, though some may have just gone underground. In fact, by the time Muraki would have been in Paris, while his spiritual being invaded Eden, there was only one member who had any visibility at all in the public eye, Amrit Vemulakonda, Isha's son."

"He's dead, too, now," Hy said, taking over, to Michael's visible relief. "Someone tore him to pieces a few days ago. That's where we come in, basically. The summons department over there believe the time has come to hand it over to us. Their report said that they've made efforts to keep this Amrit guy's apartment from being messed with so we can look around for clues. They said they found a box full of documents in Japanese, but that they're leaving everything as they found it in case we might notice something they didn't."

"Do they know what is in those documents?" Tsuzuki asked, his expression anxious.

"They said that they didn't mess with them much, but that they look like some sort of medical files," Hy said with a shrug. Tsuzuki flinched, his face contorting with anguish as he buried his head in his hands.


	6. Chapter 6

"No," Tsuzuki moaned softly, as Hisoka put a hand on his arm with concern. "It can't be. Those were destroyed -- the fire in Kyoto --"

"What is it, Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asked. Tsuzuki stood, shaking loose from Hisoka, and placing his palms flat on the table, looking at Hy.

"Hy, there is no way Muraki just casually laid those aside by forgetting them. He left them there for me to find, to bait me somehow. I don't know how close by he is going to be, but I can assure you, he is going to be watching you every step of the way," Tsuzuki said.

"So what you're saying is that this is going to be dangerous. I kinda knew that already, Tsuzuki," Hy said, looking at Tsuzuki as though he had lost his mind. Hisoka sensed that Tsuzuki's words had made Hy tense, despite his dismissive reply, and wondered what was bothering the usually carefree young man.

"I just don't like the idea of sending you kids after Muraki when he's expecting me. If something happened to you --" Tsuzuki began.

"You don't need to worry, Tsuzuki. We're not going to screw this up, and we're not kids, okay?" Hy said quietly, with a look of concern. "If anything were to happen it would because we screwed up. It wouldn't be your fault."

Tsuzuki sat down again, and an uneasy silence settled over them for a moment. Hisoka watched as Michael leaned over to his partner and whispered into his ear. A look of dismay crossed Hy's face.

"We really shouldn't ask something like that," he heard Hy murmur, then sigh, turning to Tsuzuki with reluctance.

"Tsuzuki, can you tell us what's in those files that has you so worried?" Hy asked. Tsuzuki went rigid, a sad, thoughtful look crossing his face.

"I don't know," Tsuzuki said. "And I'm not sure that I want to."

Michael leaned to Hy's ear once more, and this time Hy's expression softened considerably. He turned to his partner, with a hesitant, hopeful expression.

"So that's why you wanted to know," Hy said with a small smile. "Are you sure?" Michael nodded. Hy's smile brightened, and he gave the other boy a hurried peck on the cheek before turning to the others. Michael looked mortified.

"Okay, guys, here's the deal," Hy said, his expression growing more serious. "I haven't told you everything. I wanted to, but since there's a possibility we could get in trouble, I didn't want to drag Michael into anything with me. But he wants me to tell you, too. Tatsumi told us not to look at those files under any circumstances, and to destroy them the minute they're found. And we both got the impression that he wasn't happy at all about having to order us to do it."

xxxx

Hisoka's mind raced with unasked questions when they returned to their apartment. He would look to his lover, his mouth opened to form the words, before shaking his head and fighting it once more. It did little to help that Tsuzuki seemed to be in a state of distracted thought himself, pacing their living room, occasionally attempting to watch the television before wandering away from it again. It was driving Hisoka insane.

"Maybe we should take a walk," Hisoka suggested. "It can't be good for us, being cooped up here."

Tsuzuki looked at him, almost without recognition, before giving a grunt of disinterest and resuming his erratic pacing.

"Tsuzuki," Hisoka said cautiously, when he couldn't take it anymore. "What did you mean when you said that you didn't know or even want to know --"

"I don't want to talk about it," Tsuzuki snapped, making Hisoka jump.

"Fine," Hisoka said, giving him a wounded expression, and standing. "I'm going to go read in our room."

Hisoka had only settled on the bed long enough to distractedly reread the same page twice, when Tsuzuki came in and sat beside him, glancing at Cousa forlornly as she reluctantly jumped off the bed to make room for him.

"I'm sorry, Hisoka," Tsuzuki said, hanging his head, his dark brown fringe falling across his eyes. "I don't know how you put up with me."

"It's okay," Hisoka whispered, laying the book aside and crawling towards the troubled man, wrapping his arms around him and cradling his head to his chest. His heart felt a heavy blow as he felt Tsuzuki shake with the first choked sob, fighting back the prickling tears in his own eyes as he shushed him soothingly, rubbing his hands over his back in slow circles.

"I love you," Hisoka murmured simply, not knowing what else to say. Tsuzuki nuzzled his face further into his chest, squeezing him tightly before looking at him with moist, reddened eyes and kissing him gently.

"Thank you," Tsuzuki whispered, caressing his face. Hisoka kissed his fingers, a tiny pout pulling at his lips.

"You wiped your face on my shirt, didn't you?" Hisoka asked.

"Maybe just a little," Tsuzuki admitted with a smile.

xxxx

Hisoka stirred from his nap, gladdened somewhat that they had at least found a moment of peace and distraction in one another's arms. He rolled onto his side and watched Tsuzuki sleep, carefully running his fingers along the side of his handsome and seemingly content face, wishing that the calm of that moment would bless him so in waking hours.

He was nearly lulled back into unconsciousness by listening to Tsuzuki's slow, even breathing, when he saw the shadows shift from the corner of his eye, and distinctly heard a tiny, childish laugh. He sat up quickly, and threw off the covers, waking Tsuzuki, as he frantically searched the darkened corner of the room with his gaze.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Hisoka demanded of the insubstantial presence he sensed but could no longer see. Tsuzuki turned on the bedside lamp, and glanced to the corner Hisoka had addressed.

There was nothing there, save for a single red rosebud, clipped short from its stem.


	7. Chapter 7

Hisoka sat and watched in shock as Tsuzuki wordlessly walked to the corner of the room and picked up the small flower head, his back to Hisoka and expression unreadable.

"What is it, Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asked. Tsuzuki turned to him, with a lost, confused look.

"I don't know what it means," Tsuzuki said softly, sounding as much as though he were talking to himself as responding. His brow creased with concentration. "Hisoka, this presence, or whatever it is that you've been seeing, do you think it means harm? Do -- do you think that it's evil?"

"I really couldn't say for sure, Tsuzuki," Hisoka said uncertainly, studying the face of his lover. He could have sworn he felt a slight shift in Tsuzuki's tense state of mind, one that could be interpreted as relief, but the man was far too guarded to read accurately.

"I'm not certain that's good enough," Tsuzuki said at last after a moment of thought, shaking his head.

"Tsuzuki, do you know something about this?" Hisoka asked, holding his breath in case he'd tread into forbidden territory yet again. Tsuzuki looked at him with a pained expression upon hearing the unusual timidity that had bled into Hisoka's tone.

"I'm starting to think that I really don't know anything anymore," Tsuzuki said, looking away. "Least of all myself."

Hisoka pulled his knees to his chest, held in suspense as to what unpredictable mood swing would strike his partner next. When Tsuzuki looked at him at last, his face looked clouded with shame.

"I do know that you deserve better than what I'm putting you through. you deserve someone whole, someone stronger --" Tsuzuki whispered, dropping the rosebud to the carpet.

Something in Hisoka broke at that moment, making him feel like he had been here before. He stared at the haunted, unfocused eyes that would not quite meet his gaze and shuddered, a memory of flames and hopelessness flashing through his mind.Hisoka stood and crossed the room, leaning against him and turning his face to look at him.

"Then you're just going to have to get stronger then, baka, because I'm not going to leave you behind," Hisoka said, his gaze steady.

Tsuzuki smiled at him sadly.

"I don't deserve --"

"Don't start that crap," Hisoka said sternly, shaking his head, his fingers still holding Tsuzuki's face firmly in his direction. "I'm not here out of pity. I'm here because I don't want to be anywhere else."

"Hisoka --" Tsuzuki said tenderly.

"But that doesn't mean that I'm just going to sit back and watch you pity yourself," Hisoka said. Tsuzuki's eyes widened slightly, and Hisoka fought his feeble attempt to look away.

"No," Hisoka said. "You're not closing up on me right now. I'm tired of this. Tell me what the hell is going on."

Tsuzuki's eyes flickered with an unfamiliar gleam, and he gave a bitter laugh that chilled Hisoka to the bone.

"And you think that I'm not closed up right now?" Tsuzuki asked mockingly.

Hisoka flinched, dropping his hand and allowing Tsuzuki to step away from him. He felt overcome with vertigo, as he was hit with a wave of thoughts and feelings that he didn't understand. Clutching his head in pain, he fell to his knees, before the emotional storm cleared as suddenly as it had begun. He looked up weakly from where he had collapsed on his side, and barely registered the arms surrounding him as he slipped out of consciousness.

xxx

Hisoka did not know how much time had passed when he finally opened his eyes, peering blearily around the darkened room. He jumped up from the bed, where he found that he'd been placed, his heart pounding madly as he caught movement from the corner of the room. It was Tsuzuki.

He slowly crawled off the bed to where he found the older shinigami crouched in the floor, rocking back and forth as if he had gone mad.

"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka whispered. Tsuzuki looked up at him with anguish, his arms moving as though he wanted to reach for him and thought better of it, letting them instead slump to his sides.

"What have I done?" Tsuzuki asked mournfully. Hisoka sank to his knees beside him, keeping his distance.

"I -- I don't know, Tsuzuki. It was like you were not yourself," Hisoka answered. Tsuzuki stared at him with a terrified look.

"But what if I was myself? What if that is what I really am?" Tsuzuki asked in a broken voice.

"It's not. It can't be," Hisoka said.

"But how do you know?" Tsuzuki asked, searching his face with a desperation that made Hisoka's heart ache.

"I -- I just know," Hisoka said. "You would never hurt me."

Tsuzuki's face darkened grimly, his hands balling into fists as he shut his eyes tightly.

"That's what they thought, too. All they did was love me, and I destroyed them," Tsuzuki moaned, cramming his hands into his eyes and shaking.

"Who are you talking about, Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asked, but received no answer.

"Do you understand now what I'm trying to protect you from?" Tsuzuki demanded, lowering his hands and giving him a pleading look.

"No," Hisoka said softly. "I don't understand anything, because you won't tell me."

Tsuzuki fell silent, lost in thought. Cousa ventured out cautiously from where she had been hiding beneath the bed, and Hisoka scooped her into his lap gratefully, trying to find some comfort in stroking the kitten and feeling her little heart pound quickly against his leg.

"Hisoka," Tsuzuki said at last. "I -- I think I owe it to us both to find out what is in those files."

"Tsuzuki," Hisoka said, looking up hopefully.

"Something is happening to me, and I don't understand what it is, or how safe it will be to be around me --" Tsuzuki began.

"You're not going to get any better if we just ignore the only thing we have to go on," Hisoka interjected.

"We're not just going to be pissing off Konoe here. We could get fired or worse --"

"What are they going to do, kill us?" Hisoka asked in exasperation.

"The thought has crossed my mind. You don't know --" Tsuzuki said severely, shaking his head.

"And I never will if we stay here," Hisoka said.

"You're the most stubborn person I've ever met," Tsuzuki said.

"Thank you. Now let's go," Hisoka said and stood.


	8. Chapter 8

A somewhat disheveled blonde scientist greeted them at the door with a look of surprise, tucking his unbound, wavy locks behind his ear.

"To what do I owe this delightful surprise?" Watari asked, stepping aside to let them enter his apartment.

"Um -- do you have company?" Hisoka asked, coloring slightly.

"Well, aren't we a nosy little thing?" Watari asked, his eyes twinkling. "Since when do you have so much interest in my sex life? I'll tell you what, we'll do this quid pro quo --"

"Watari, this is serious. Is there anyone else here?" Hisoka demanded impatiently.

"I fear your little midnight raid has turned me up as quite the innocent, alas," Watari said with a shrug. "Mind filling me in now?"

"Where are Hy and Michael staying?" Tsuzuki asked.

"A little inn not far from here. I'll be more than happy to take you," Watari said, as they followed him into a bedroom that was surprisingly sparse and traditional compared to the cluttered front room, where he pulled his hair back with a tie lying on the dressing table. "Am I to take it that you've reached some decision?"

"We're going to Paris," Hisoka confirmed. "Will you look in on Cousa while we're gone?"

"Absolutely not," Watari said, stepping behind a dressing screen in the corner of the room.

"Why not?" Hisoka asked with confusion.

"Because I'm coming with you, silly," Watari replied, sticking his head around the screen with a wink.

"What? You can't do that! You can't just suddenly disappear from work. Won't that look pretty suspicious? Tatsumi will know what is up within minutes," Hisoka said.

"Tatsumi already knows what is up, little one. I told him myself that you would probably come here," Watari said flippantly.

"You did what? Watari, have you lost your mind?" Tsuzuki demanded.

Watari reappeared from behind the screen, fully changed, and reached for the lab coat hanging from a peg on the wall.

"You're really not giving our darling secretary enough credit, considering how much he cares for the two of you," Watari said with a sniff. "And there are some of us who simply don't like to have dishonesty and secrets in our relationships." Watari gave Tsuzuki a meaningful glance.

"You mean, Tatsumi --" Tsuzuki said blankly.

"It was his idea for me to bring you and the kids together in the first place," Watari said. "And I must say I was rather proud of him for not being such a mother hen for once. I must be a good influence."

"But he could get into terrible trouble for this," Tsuzuki said.

"And you think that that would stop him from doing what is best for you? I'll admit that it wasn't easy for me to convince him that protecting you from the truth was hurting more than it was helping, but your own actions are what truly convinced him," Watari said.

"My own actions?" Tsuzuki asked. Watari nodded, giving the dark haired shinigami a look of concern.

"Don't forget that Tatsumi is the master of shadows. He would certainly notice when one has fallen across the soul of one so close to him," Watari said.

xxxx

"What in the world are you guys doing here?" Hy asked, blinking sleepily as he opened the door. The small room was dimly lit by the light from the ajar bathroom door.

"Hy, we need to talk to the both of you," Tsuzuki said. Hy nodded, with a look of confusion.

"Well, I'll see if I can rouse him. Boy sleeps heavier than than a doggone log," Hy muttered, limping towards the bed, where Michael was curled beneath the covers.

Watari and Tsuzuki shared amused looks, and Hisoka stared at the floor, while Hy gently tried to coax his partner awake by shaking him by the shoulders and sighed with frustration as the other boy sleepily tried to drag him back into the bed with him.

"Michael, for the love of Pete, leggo," Hy said, tugging his brown curls from the other's grip, and pushing him onto his back.

Michael's long lashed blue eyes at last began to flutter, as he groggily tried to focus them on his surroundings, growing suddenly and comically large when they took in the other men in the room. He sprang up and scooted against the headboard, clutching the covers to him with a look of alarm.

"We're really sorry to intrude on the two of you like this, but we have something important we need to talk to you about," Tsuzuki said.

"It's okay. Have a seat," Hy said, gesturing to a couple of chairs by a small table, as he flicked on the bedside lamp and sat beside a still stunned Michael. The three men entered the room and closed the door behind them, Tsuzuki and Watari taking the chairs while Hisoka remained standing.

"You can sit on the bed if you want to, Hisoka," Hy offered, though Michael didn't look happy about the idea.

"That's okay," Hisoka declined, leaning against the wall.

"So, what's going on?" Hy asked, self consciously pulling the covers over his brown legs, one of which bore a long, jagged scar from the injury he'd received in Eden, when his parasitic shiki, Amarok, had separated from him for good.

"We're going to Paris, as well," Tsuzuki said. The two boys looked at him with surprise.

"We don't want to cause the two of you to get into any worse trouble than we might have already gotten you into, so we'll be going on our own and will try not to interfere with your investigation any more than necessary," Hisoka said.

Hy was silent as Michael frantically whispered into his ear.

"Yeah, I know. You're sure, then?" Hy said softly. Michael nodded.

"Well, we think that's a pretty ridiculous idea," Hy stated.

"But --" Hisoka began.

"Don't misunderstand me, now," Hy said. "We want you to come with us. We're in this together."

"You're absolutely certain about this? I'm not sure you understand --" Tsuzuki began.

"That we could get fired? Heck, we're risking being killed as it is. 'Sides, it's not like we don't have some pretty good connections, what with Michael's folks," Hy said.

"I know that you're our friend, but why should Michael put his neck out for us like this?" Hisoka asked.

Michael gave a tiny smile, and whispered to Hy. Hy gave him a touched look, his gray eyes sparkling.

"That's so sweet," Hy said to Michael, before turning to the others with a broad grin. "He says that the way you guys have always kept me safe is reason enough for him."

"Then it's settled. I'm so excited!" Watari said with delight, receiving strange glances from them all.


	9. Chapter 9

"Bonjour," Tsuzuki said awkwardly as they stood near the street cafe where they were to meet their contact from the French summons department.

The man whom Tsuzuki had approached looked at him strangely, saying something he couldn't comprehend before crossing himself and fleeing across the street.

"Um, Tsuzuki, that guy's still alive. Where's your head?" Hisoka asked. Tsuzuki rubbed the back of his neck and grinned.

"Oh, right. It's just that the only other person here is that dark headed kid over there, who's glaring at me," Tsuzuki said the last words slowly as comprehension dawned on him. Hisoka rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, Tsuzuki," Hisoka said, walking over to the table his partner indicated, followed by the others.

"I was said to be meeting a group of two. Might I ask why there are five of you?" a boy who didn't look much older than Hisoka asked warily in English, gazing at them with heavy lidded hazel eyes.

"Um, yeah, about that --" Tsuzuki began as he joined them.

"We decided we needed back up. Muraki is pretty dangerous, as you know," Hy replied, his voice steady. The other boy seemed satisfied.

"My name is Finch. I have been on the Vemulakonda case since the the murder of Isha, so our paths intertwine a bit, no? I will take you to Amin's apartment so that you may see the files we have informed you of," Finch said briskly and stood.

"You mean that we're not going to eat first?" Tsuzuki asked, with a whimper.

xxxx

"It has been difficult to resist thoroughly examining the crime scene, and even more tricky to prevent the authorities of the living from interfering," Finch said as they approached a small two story building. "Might I have your leave to do so now?"

"Sure, knock yourself out," Hy said with a shrug, as they followed him to a narrow iron stairway leading to the second floor from the outside, bypassing the business that occupied the first floor. As the others went ahead, Tsuzuki lagged behind, staring into the large window of the dance studio that was at street level, watching as a young couple waltzed gracefully across the floor.

"What is it, Tsuzuki?" Hisoka said, walking back to him. Tsuzuki shook his head with a sad smile. Hisoka slowly took Tsuzuki's hand with his smaller one, squeezing it gently.

"What was her name, your sister?" Hisoka asked.

"Ruka," Tsuzuki said softly. "She suffered so much because of me, and yet she was the only one who didn't die hating me. She loved me." Hisoka felt a fleeting memory, a moment of comfort, a supportive smile from a loving face.

"It -- it must have meant a great deal to you, having someone like that in your life when you were growing up," Hisoka said. Tsuzuki looked at the downcast face of his partner, a tiny rim of tears forming beneath the thick black fringe of his eyelashes.

"You never had anyone like that in yours, did you, baby?" Tsuzuki asked tenderly, drawing the boy into his arms. Hisoka shook his head.

"It doesn't matter now," Hisoka whispered, resting his head against Tsuzuki's chest. "I have you."

Tsuzuki was about to respond, when an alarmed Hy hobbled quickly out onto the landing above, waving frantically.

"Tsuzuki! Hisoka! The files -- they're gone!"

xxxx

"I walked in here where Finch told me the files were, and saw these two weird looking kids, and then poof! The files and the kids just up and disappeared into thin air," Hy said with exasperation as they stood in the bedroom of the spacious apartment.

"Weird looking kids?" Watari asked, studying the empty space Hy indicated. Hisoka looked at Tsuzuki, who seemed to have no unusual reaction to the information.

"Yeah, they were dressed all old fashioned, Indian looking get ups, I guess. They were just little kids. One of them stuck their tongue out at me!" Hy said indignantly.

"Curious," Finch said, stroking his chin. "And they just disappeared?"

"That's what I said," Hy replied with a shrug. "They were here one second, and then they weren't. And they had the box of files with them."

"Well, they obviously weren't human, so what in hell were they?" Hisoka asked. Finch looked thoughtful for a moment.

"What in hell, indeed," Finch said vaguely. "I suppose all we can do now is look around then, no? I advise caution. There may be traps."

The six men spilt in various directions, looking over the large apartment, which contained a surprising amount of rooms.

"Just that one guy lived here?" Hy asked, as he looked underneath a leather sofa near where the body had been found. "He must have been pretty loaded to have a place this big in Paris."

"This is where the followers used to gather. Their organization was funded by many criminal activities," Finch said absently, as he rifled through the books on a nearby shelf. "The dance studio downstairs was once a restaurant that served as a front for a drug ring, but I do believe that the new owners are legitimate. All of those who I have been investigating seem to have died or fled the country now. Amrit was the last of them, and his activities have been most low-key of late."

Hisoka stood behind Tsuzuki, who was, unsurprisingly, going through the kitchen cabinets, snacking on a box of cookies he'd found as he searched.

"You shouldn't eat things you just find like that, baka," Hisoka said.

"I doubt the guy would have poisoned his own cookies," Tsuzuki said with a shrug, wiping crumbs away from his mouth. "They are kind of stale though."

"Tsuzuki," Hisoka said hesitantly. "What Hy said, about those kids who disappeared like that, do you think it has any connection with whatever I've been seeing in our bedroom? I heard a child's laugh --"

"No, baby. I don't know much about either of them, but they're not connected," Tsuzuki said with a certainty that made Hisoka want to question him further, but he refrained, instead joining in the search with the others.

They continued to look in silence, when Finch called out for them to come. Following his voice, they entered what looked to be a dusty, unused room, cluttered with strange artifacts that looked as if they had been pillaged from a temple. Finch stood before a frightening black statue of a woman with many arms, her long tongue protruding from a mouth stained with painted blood.

"See this seam here in the wall behind her?" Finch asked. "I believe if we push her just so we will free a latch and reveal a door."

"You're right," Watari said with admiration. "It's a simple design, but clever."

"Too simple," Finch added, pointing upward. Through the cobwebs and deep shadows, they could make out the tiniest glimmer of steel from a large, guillotine-like blade hung high above the hidden doorway.

"Well, that's not very welcoming," Watari muttered, his brow furrowed as he studied the contraption.

"You are an expert with mechanics, are you not? Can you disarm the trap?" Finch asked. Watari cracked his knuckles and grinned.

"Yes, I do think I can manage something," Watari said, reaching into his lab coat and fishing out a small, leather pouch. "Stand aside, kids."

"How did you know it was a trap?" Tsuzuki asked in wonder, as they watched Watari climb onto the base of the statue and pull out a set of small metal instruments that resembled lock pick tools. Finch looked at him with a grim, bitter smile.

"This sort of thing is not unusual for the Vemulakonda," Finch said. "I have lost partners in learning that lesson all too well. None will assist me now."

"I had wondered why you were alone," Tsuzuki said thoughtfully. "I'm sorry." Finch waved his hand dismissively and sighed.

"What is done is done, and the anger keeps me focused," Finch said.

They all leapt back, startled, as a girlish shriek followed by a whoosh and a thud sounded loudly before them. Watari stood, white faced and mere inches from where the blade had just sunk into the floor, slicing the statue beneath it neatly in two.

"Well, I reckon triggering it is one way way to disarm it," Hy said, with a low whistle.

"Are you okay, Watari?" Tsuzuki asked. Watari climbed down from the half statue base, closely observing what looked to be a single hair split neatly down the middle.

"Fine, fine. Well, then, let's see what's inside, shall we?" Watari said with a nervous laugh.

The six shinigami ventured carefully around the embedded blade, to where a narrow passage had opened behind it. Watari pulled a flashlight out of his coat and shone it into the stuffy, windowless room, revealing the walls and floors to be of rough unfinished wood.

"I don't like this place," Hisoka said with a frown. "I sense something really evil here."

"Heck, me, too, and I'm not even a whatchamacallit," Hy said with a shiver.

"Empath," Hisoka said with a small smile.

"Yeah, that," Hy said, leaning heavily on his cane as he stayed by the entrance.

"Does -- does it hurt?" Hisoka asked softly, glancing down at Hy's injured leg. Hy shifted uncomfortably.

"It doesn't ache so much as it kinda goes numb on me. But I get around all right, I guess," Hy said with a shrug.

"You really do. It doesn't seem to slow you down much at all," Hisoka said encouragingly. Hy smiled.

"You think so?" Hy asked. Hisoka nodded, and walked further into the room, to find Tsuzuki smiling at him tenderly as he watched their exchange.

"Look at this," Finch said, borrowing Watari's flashlight and shining it on the floor. "This is what I thought I might see one day, dealing with with these people."

The ring of light revealed a large chalk circle upon the floorboards, with a broad, five pointed star drawn carefully within it. The center bore a pool of what could only be congealed blood and gore.

"What is this?" Tsuzuki asked, recoiling with disgust.

"This is what they've used to summon demons into this world," Finch said. "It is exactly as I feared."


	10. Chapter 10

"Demons?" Hy asked, in a small, terrified voice, backing towards the entrance. "Look, y'all this is freaking me right the heck out. I've got to get out of here before we run into one of those things."

"You already have," Finch said, glancing up irritably to where Michael was keeping Hy from fleeing by holding onto his sleeve. "More than one, in fact." Hisoka felt Tsuzuki stiffen from where he stood close beside him, and looked at him curiously.

"You mean -- those little kids?" Hy asked with astonishment.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Finch said. Hy laughed.

"But they weren't scary! They were varmits, to be sure, but they were kind of cute," Hy said, shaking his head. "Sure weren't nothing like the ones the nuns used to go on about. You can't see those."

"There are greater varieties in demonic spirits than you can comprehend," Finch said. "The study of them was Isha's specialty, as you'll recall from the case files. In her apartment there were many rooms as well, and I found her texts on the summoning of spirits to be quite worn. She also had a very sophisticated medical lab built there, behind a hidden door such as this one. I lost my first partner there."

"Medical lab? Is there some sort of connection between her two eccentric hobbies?" Watari asked.

"I don't know. I was hoping that when you got here and translated the files that I would be enlightened on the subject," Finch said. "It does seem a strange marriage between science and faith, no?"

"Yes, very strange," Hisoka said quietly, never taking his eyes from Tsuzuki, who looked as though he had turned to stone.

They filed out of the room, giving the apartment a second round of scrutiny in case they had missed anything. Hy and Michael came out of the bedroom after a while, Hy waving a small sheet of paper over his head.

"I found something, guys! It must have fallen off of that box and got blown under the dresser before those kids took off with it," Hy said excitedly, lowering the paper and looking at it. "It says, 'My love, if you will grace me with your presence at the --'. Aw, heck, I can't read that! Michael?"

"It says to meet them at the Musee Fragonard," Michael said softly. "It is not signed."

"Oh, I think we know who that is from," Watari said with a scowl.

"There is more than one museum by the name of Fragonard," Finch said. "But I think I have a pretty good idea which is the kind a man like Muraki would have in mind. It is not well known, but I know where it is. We will have to go there tomorrow however, as it would be closed by this hour."

"Did he even mention a particular date or time?" Hisoka asked.

"He -- he says that he will be watching and waiting, that is all," Michael said, staring at the floor, his shoulder length hair obscuring his face as he spoke.

"Then he probably already knows that we're here," Tsuzuki said.

xxxx

There was only one room left available at the predictably cheap hotel where Tatsumi had booked Hy and Michael, which Hisoka paid for as soon as Hy picked up his key. Hy gave the card to Michael, who gratefully made his escape toward their room as the other four stopped outside of the vacant one Hisoka had acquired.

"Well, it looks as though I'm stuck between intruding on one pair of lovers or the other," Watari said, stretching. Hy blushed deeply.

"Um -- we don't, I mean, we've never --" Hy stammered, glancing after his partner.

"You don't say! Well, if you need some advice, you can always ask these guys. They have loads of experience," Watari announced cheerfully, as Hisoka opened the door to the room and went inside, throwing the scientist a dirty look as he went. Tsuzuki opened his mouth with a gaping, lost expression, before hurriedly following his partner into the room without a word.

"As much as I appreciate your candor, love, I do think it may be best if I stick with Tsuzuki and Hisoka tonight," Watari said breezily, standing in the doorway. "After all, I wouldn't want to inhibit the two of you." Watari winked suggestively at Hy before striding into the room and closing the door behind him.

"So, you're with us, then?" Tsuzuki said, trying to mask his disappointment with a concerned glance at Hisoka, who appeared to be taking the invasion with surprising calm.

"Can you honestly imagine how Hy's little boyfriend would respond to having me sleep in the room?" Watari asked with a laugh. "I don't think I've ever seen such a bashful little creature in all of my existence."

"Since when are you so considerate of the privacy of others?" Hisoka asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, Hisoka's bashful, too!" Tsusuki said. "At least, when there are other people around," he added thoughtfully, eyes rolled upward innocently, as he absently munched on the mint he'd found on his pillow and reached for the one on Hisoka's.

"Baka!" Hisoka exclaimed irritably, turning down the covers. Watari watched with amusement as the teen slipped off his shoes and climbed into bed fully clothed.

"Oh, please, Hisoka. Like I didn't already know what a little minx you are behind closed doors," Watari said, throwing his labcoat over a chair and walking to the second bed. "Tsuzuki, you'll have to give Hy some pointers on how to tame a wild thing." Hisoka visibly struggled to hold back a retort, and sighed.

"I'm actually glad that you'll be here," Hisoka said.

Both men looked at him in astonishment, as he pulled the sheets around himself, appearing small where he'd curled up on the edge of the bed.

"You what?" Watari asked with a squeal. "Don't tell me my kinkiest fantasies are about to come true!" Tsuzuki and Hisoka gave the scientist looks of shock and disgust, respectively.

"No!" Hisoka yelled, burrowing even further beneath the covers with a whimper. "I take it back! Get the hell out of here! Hentai!"

"I'm just kidding, little one. Calm down before you hurt yourself," Watari said with a laugh, hopping on one foot as he pulled off his shoe.

Tsuzuki, who had already undressed to his boxers, slid into bed beside Hisoka and pulled him into his arms protectively in an attempt to sooth him.

"So does Tatsumi know that you entertain kinky thoughts about us?" Tsuzuki asked teasingly.

"Oh, he finds my kinky thoughts very entertaining," Watari said evasively, slipping into a short robe and sitting on the bed.

Tsuzuki absently watched Watari brush his long hair out of the corner of his eye, and affectionately ran his hands over the narrow shoulders of the boy nestled against him, as the three fell into silence. He'd nearly calmed his lover to the point of sleep, before his voice caused wide green eyes to look up at him.

"So, Hisoka, what did you mean then? About being glad that Watari was here?" Tsuzuki asked.

"I just thought -- with all that's been happening lately, that it might be safer," Hisoka said softly.

Hisoka caught a grim look of understanding cross Tsuzuki's face, before he disentangled himself and turned his haunted eyes away to turn off the bedside lamp.


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: I sincerely apologize for taking so long! I've had a bad bout of writer's block, I'm afraid. Anyhoo, reviews always encourage me greatly...hint, hint. ;D_

Hisoka sat up in the darkness, shaken from a terrible dream. Unlike the usual nightmares that plagued him when he knew Muraki was somewhere near, this one had been unlike any he'd had before. He remembered a village engulphed in flames, and found himself running into a murky forest as far and as fast as he could, leaving everyone behind him, and feeling overwhelmed with a sense of guilt and grief that he did now know the origin of.

"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka said softly to the sleeping form beside him. He studied the side of Tsuzuki's face as his eyes adjusted, and found him looking peaceful and undisturbed by his voice. He kissed the other man's dark hair with relief, and stood from the bed.

"Couldn't sleep, either, little one?" a voice startled him as he stepped out to the long walkway adjoining the rooms outside. Watari regarded him warmly from where he leaned against the railing, the lights of the city twinkling beyond.

"I had a bad dream," Hisoka said, joining him. "It's no big deal."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Watari asked.

"Not really," Hisoka said with a heavy sigh.

"You sound exhausted," Watari said.

Hisoka shrugged, giving a noncommittal little grunt, and absently looked out over the railing. He tried to clear his mind without success, his head buzzing with questions and thoughts that he knew would not allow him to rest.

"So," Watari said after a long silence, "Which one do you think will be on top?" Hisoka gave him a look of confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Hisoka asked irritably, afraid the scientist might mean what he thought he had.

"The chibis," Watari said with a laugh. "I've been trying to figure out which one seems like they'd be more dominant ever since Hy made his adorable little confession."

"That's not what's keeping you up, is it?" Hisoka asked, giving him a look of mild disgust.

"Now why would I be thinking about the things that got me out of bed in the first place? Seems rather counter-productive, seeing as I'm sure we'd both rather be sleeping," Watari said with a grin.

"Why are you so interested in what other people do in private, anyway?" Hisoka asked, shaking his head.

"I just like to see people in love. I'm an incurable romantic," Watari said with a dreamy sigh.

"An incurable pervert," Hisoka muttered.

"Don't tell me you haven't wondered," Watari said with an all-knowing air.

"If this is your idea of distracting me from worrying --" Hisoka began, as the two turned at the sound of an opening door.

"Oh! Um, hi guys," Hy said with a startled squeak, as he saw them. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep," Hisoka said, glancing at the box Hy was clutching behind his back.

"Caught me," Hy said with a sheepish grin, revealing the thin cigars he held. "Don't tell Michael, okay? He'd whoop my hide if he knew. He thinks I quit."

"I think we found an answer to our question," Watari said with amused satisfaction.

"Question?" Hy asked innocently.

"Never mind," Hisoka said, shooting a glare at the smug blonde and changing the subject quickly. "Why is he making you quit? It shouldn't be a health risk to a shinigami."

"Yeah, I know, that's what I said. He just doesn't like the way it smells," Hy said with a pout.

"Somebody's whipped," Watari said with a wink. Hy flushed slightly as he lit up.

"He's worth it though," Hy said with a timid grin. "I know he never talks much around y'all, but he's really smart and funny. He's good at this job, too. I think his mom was pretty strict with him when he was trained to be a shinigami. He's taught me a lot."

Hisoka smiled to himself at the feelings of affection and pride coming from the other boy when he spoke, and turned back towards his room.

"I think I'm going to try to sleep now," Hisoka said, slipping away as Hy and Watari talked. As much as he hated to admit it, Watari had swayed his thoughts in a less troubling direction. He paused as he placed his hand on the doorknob to their room, hearing a voice inside.

"No! You're wrong! I'm not like him," Tsuzuki argued, before Hisoka was startled by a loud crash.

Flinging open the door, he found Tsuzuki alone before a smashed mirror, the older shinigami gazing at a jagged piece of the broken glass in his hand with a wild look, leveling it with his face.

"Tsuzuki! What are you doing?" Hisoka cried with alarm, rushing towards him and knocking the sharp, triangular shard from his shaking fingers, which were stained with blood.

Tsuzuki wielded upon him with a look of fury, that quickly faded as he focused upon the boy's face, dissolving into one of wrenching sorrow. He fell to his knees with a pitiful sob.

"It's getting harder to control," Tsuzuki moaned. "It's getting to where it takes all I have. What's happening to me?"

Hisoka sank down beside him, taking his injured hand and inspecting the damage, blocking his mind from the assault of emotions in the air the best he could with the mental exercises Konoe had taught him with while trying to train him in basic fudu magic.

"Who were you talking to Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asked softly, using the tail of his shirt to wipe away the blood.

"Myself," Tsuzuki said, with a dazed expression. "He says he is me."

Hisoka studied his face, about to respond, when Watari came into the room, observing the scene with a calm, if saddened look.

"Let me see," Watari said, crouching beside Hisoka and taking Tsuzuki's hand from him. He flinched slightly at the deep gash running from his index finger to the middle of his palm.

"That's quite a boo-boo you've given yourself big fella," Watari said, and looked back to where Hy stood with a shocked expression in the doorway. "Hy, be a dear and fetch my bag, please."

xxxx

When Watari had finished patching up Tsuzuki's hand, and coaxing the shaken man to lie down, Hisoka settled in beside him, unsure of how to best handle the situation.

He'd become much better at handling emotional scenes since he'd met his turbulent partner, had learned to hold him when he cried and to become useful in soothing him even if he didn't know what to say, but it was still difficult for him to handle. To Hisoka, the only truly safe emotion had always been anger, which he found a most useful device in driving attention away from the vulnerability of other, more personal feelings. It was the emotion he found easiest to handle in others as well, having grown accustomed to it in the toxic environment of his childhood.

It had seemed so foreign and frightening to him when he had met Tsuzuki, Hisoka thought, as he watched the other man stare blankly at the ceiling, his breathing only shortly having returned to normal. He was such an open person emotionally in many ways, at least on the surface. Hisoka had been unnerved from day one by the waves of boundless, childish joy the man projected from the simplest pleasures, like food and drink, the silly jokes he shared with Watari and the girls, and, Hisoka blushed to recall, observing what he perceived as beauty. It had come as no small shock to his system when one of the first distinct thoughts he had read from the other man was that he thought his new partner was beautiful.

Then there had been Tsuzuki's guilt and sorrow from a job he was reluctant to do. Hisoka had come to realize over the years that Tsuzuki's sloth and slacker attitude was not entirely from an unconscious personality trait. It was also steeped heavily in a resentment for the duties it was his obligation to fulfill, and hampered by a constant feeling of hopelessness that he was not always adept in hiding. The times Hisoka had tapped into that current in his partner's most troubled moments, it had been overwhelming to the point where he wanted to run away from him, to where he'd never have to experience such discomfort and confusion again. But somehow, with Tsuzuki, that had never been an option for Hisoka. Tsuzuki was the first person who had ever really needed him, and it filled him with an awe that overcame his initial envy of the other man's power. He still wanted to be Tsuzuki's equal, but his motives had become more in wanting to help his partner shoulder the load than in simply besting him, like it had been in the beginning.

The emotion from Tsuzuki that had been the strongest and most confusing for the lonely boy who had died early and unmourned by his own family, had been the amethyst eyed man's capacity to love. After having gone through a life where the people who should have loved him unconditionally didn't, here was a stranger, a man he was openly hostile to and didn't even want to be associated with, accepting him with open arms and instant affection. It positively infuriated him. But mostly, it scared him.

It had taken almost losing him, and momentarily pondering what this new life would be like without this love, to make him fully appreciate how he had taken it for granted. Even in this realm of existence, there was the possibility of mortality, and the realization forced the emotionally stunted young man to be honest with himself, even if it had taken nearly another year for him to be so with Tsuzuki.

But even with that flood gate opened, and Hisoka feeling more comfortable with his own and the emotions of others than he'd ever dreamed possible, he still fell back upon the comfort of anger sometimes in order to deal with things.

He fought his anger and frustration as he shifted, facing away from Tsuzuki on the bed, feeling helpless, a feeling he loathed more than any other. Forces he didn't understand seemed to be taking over his and Tsuzuki's life, and his lover's insistence upon secrecy was doing nothing to help the situation.

"I'm sorry, Hisoka," Tsuzuki murmured softly behind him, as if reading his thoughts, and winding his arms around him. They were the first words he'd spoken since Watari entered the room, having seemed in an almost hypnotic state.

"You said you would never try to hurt yourself again," Hisoka said accusingly, though his anger had finally started to dissipate. "You promised."

"I know, baby. I'm sorry," Tsuzuki said, kissing the back of his neck.

"This -- this thing I've been seeing -- it's apart of you?" Hisoka asked. He felt Tsuzuki stiffen slightly, and held his breath.

"Yes, I think so," Tsuzuki said after a long moment.

"Why was it trying to hurt you?" Hisoka asked. Tsuzuki pulled him in tighter to him and sighed.

"It wasn't. I thought maybe I could destroy it --" Tsuzuki began.

"By mutilating yourself again?" Hisoka asked incredulously, rolling over to face him. "Tsuzuki, you know that --"

"I'll just heal? Is that what you were going to say?" Tsuzuki asked, an unfamiliar edge to his voice that made Hisoka want to pull away. "It didn't work when I was alive, either. Do you ever wonder why that is?"

Hisoka was about to respond, when the sound of Watari shifting in his sleep from the next bed seemed to have an affect upon Tsuzuki, who shook his head as if to clear it. Tsuzuki blinked sleepily, nuzzling into his pillow.

"I'm feeling really drained, Hisoka. Can we talk tomorrow?" Tsuzuki said with a yawn.

"Sure, Tsuzuki," Hisoka whispered, feeling uneasy.


	12. Chapter 12

Hisoka awoke to find his bed empty, and bolted up with alarm, his eyes traveling over to where Watari was toweling off his long tresses by the bedroom mirror.

"Don't worry, little one. He just went down to breakfast with the chibis. You slept even less than he did last night, so he let you be," Watari said, glancing at his reflection in the glass. "Shall we join them?"

"Yeah," Hisoka grumbled, resenting being left behind.

Downstairs they found Hy and Finch bickering about something trivial, while Tsuzuki and Michael ate in silence.

"Yeah, well you didn't have to answer me like I'm some sort of idiot," Hy huffed, crossing his arms.

"I was merely trying to word it in a way that you would understand," Finch said calmly, his heavy lidded eyes lighting on the two who had just arrived. Hy fumed, following his gaze.

"Good morning," Watari said, ruffling Hy's hair affectionately and sitting beside him. "Did we have a good night's rest?"

"Sure. Dandy," Hy said, coloring slightly and glancing away from Watari's suggestive grin. Hisoka noted with curiosity that he and Michael were sitting with Tsuzuki and Finch between them.

"How are you?" Hisoka asked softly, sliding into the chair beside Tsuzuki.

"I'm fine," Tsuzuki said with a smile, surprising Hisoka when he leaned in, giving him a tender kiss.

"Baka," Hisoka whispered, his eyes glancing quickly towards the others. He felt a strong wave of guilt escape from his partner and looked at him with concern.

"It's not a big deal, Tsuzuki. It's just awkward," Hisoka said reassuringly, squeezing Tsuzuki's hand under the table. Tsuzuki merely nodded, stroking his fingers lovingly with his thumb, and leaving his lover to wonder at his emotional overreaction as he seemed to close himself off.

"Are you ready, Tsuzuki?" Finch asked, looking toward the window of the hotel restaurant, where a boy with blond hair was waving to him from the street. Hisoka wondered why he had addressed his partner specifically as they followed the pair outside.

The tall, gangly blonde's brown eyes sparkled when they rested on Finch, and the others watched with disbelief and discomfort as the taller boy pulled Finch into an impassioned embrace, capturing his lips in a kiss that bordered on violent. Watari looked quite entranced, and Hy shyly gazed at Michael, who was staring at his feet. Tsuzuki merely looked confused. Hisoka cleared his throat irritably.

Finch firmly pushed the other boy away with a scowl, to the blonde's displeasure, and they began a conversation in French that quickly escalated into an argument. After a few moments of what seemed like exchanged insults and pleading, Finch finally calmed him with softly spoken words, and turned to the others completely unfazed as the other boy slunked off sulkily in the other direction.

"Good. Alain has agreed to lend me his bike," Finch said with satisfaction, walking over to a small scooter parked in the street.

Before Hisoka or the others could even question how they were all supposed to travel, Finch mounted the bike and tossed Tsuzuki the other helmet.

"What's going on?" Hisoka asked, as Tsuzuki climbed on behind Finch, throwing him an apologetic look as Finch started the engine.

"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asked in numb shock, as he watched them pull away and merge with the traffic of the busy street.

xxxx

"That stupid idiot! I can't believe he ditched us," Hisoka said dejectedly, as Watari fiddled with a hand held PC in an attempt to look for directions to the Musee Fragonard. The four men sat on a bench outside of the hotel where they had been left behind by their guide and Tsuzuki.

"Tsuzuki's really powerful. I'm sure he'll be able to handle it," Hy said. "And Finch may be an ass, but he's probably some use at his job."

Hisoka looked up at two pale blue eyes, as Michael uneasily patted his shoulder and gave him a look of sympathy.

"Well, Finch was right about one thing. There seems to be several Musee Fragonards!" Watari said, shaking his head and dragging a stylus across the small screen before him.

"Well, he said that he was sure which one would appeal to Muraki, so just look for the creepiest one," Hy said with a shrug.

"Let's see, it's probably not the one centering on perfume," Watari said, squinting. "The art museum seems unlikely, too. Somehow I just can't see Muraki being a big fan of the Rococo period, despite his weird little doll collecting thing --"

"Watari, hurry," Hisoka urged, his eyes still looking in the direction where Tsuzuki had disappeared.

"Aha! There's a link on the museum page, mentioning that Jean Honore Fragonard had a nutty relation with his own museum in Paris," Watari said, jabbing at the screen.

"What does it say?" Hisoka asked. Watari shook his head.

"The link is dead. Let me try another search," Watari said. Hisoka sighed with frustration.

"Hey, guys, should I hail a cab or something? Maybe the driver would know what we're looking for, since it probably gets tourists," Hy said, as Hisoka spotted the boy Finch had borrowed the bike from emerging from a nearby sweet shop.

"I've got a better idea," Hisoka said, leaping to his feet and rushing up to the blond.

"Alain?" Hisoka said, remembering the name Finch had used. "Do you speak Japanese?" The boy gave him a confused look, before he tried asking about English, to which he received a timid nod.

"I speak a little," Alain said slowly.

"Do you know where Finch went?" Hisoka asked, to which the boy shook his head. "How about the Musee Fragonard?"

Alain's eyes widened slightly.

"Which one?" Alain asked, receiving a collective groan from the group.

xxxx

Alain looked a bit startled, having been pulled with bodily force by Hisoka into the nearest cab, and pumped for the information they sought. The car zoomed towards the outskirts of the city, to the area of Maisons-Alfort, once Alain mentioned a strange and little heard of museum was located there.

"I would not know it's there," Alain explained. "But I went with Finch once. It is not a good place, to my thinking."

"Finally! Here it is," Watari exclaimed, waving the little computer over his head. "It says here that Fragonard was an anatomist, who used a now unknown method for preserving the bodies of both animals and humans, using them as material for macabre works of art. His work was actually quite in vogue during his lifetime among the wealthy, in adding to their cabinets of curiosities."

"And that's the kind of place Finch takes a date?" Hy asked in disbelief.

"It was not a date," Alain said. "We were working."

"You're shinigami then?" Hy asked.

"No longer. I left summons for investigations," Alain explained.

"Oh, so you got a promotion! Good for you," Watari said.

"It was not a transfer to my wishes," Alain said with a shrug, with a look as though the subject pained him.

"Looks like we're here," Hy said, as the cab slowed to let them out on a quiet street before a stone wall bearing an engraved plaque reading _Ecole Nationale Véterinaire d'Alfort_.

"A veterinary school?" Hisoka mused aloud as they climbed out of the car, and Michael paid the driver.

"The world's first, in fact, relocated from Lyons, and Fragonard was the director of anatomy. He was later fired for being crazy and later found work elsewhere," Watari said, leading them to the front entrance.

They marched in silence past the old building of the school, following Alain's lead, Hisoka feeling tense with mounting dread and urgency. What was Tsuzuki playing at, leaving him and the others to face Muraki on his own? Hisoka quickened his pace, urging their guide to make haste.

Alain lead them into a rather antiquated building labeled as the anatomy building and up to the second floor, Hisoka pushing ahead and taking the steps two at a time once he knew their general direction.

The door atop the stairs laid open upon a room that was dimly lit, Hisoka impatiently paying his way in and hearing nothing but the hollow clack of his shoes as he raced across the parquet floor, and the thrumming of blood in his ears. The small space was divided into three sections, which were each crammed with glass cases he only fleetingly registered the gruesome contents of as he went from one to the next, searching for his partner.

There were no other visitors to hinder him, and he finally reached a sight that gave him pause as he stepped into the last walled section of the museum. He could not help but lose focus of his goal for a fleeting moment, as his gaze fell upon the most impressively macabre vision he had ever encountered. Mounted on a pedestal which dominated the room were the skeletal remains of a horse posed in mid-gallop, bearing a well preserved and fully skinned mounted rider. As his gaze reluctantly lowered from the oddly glistening muscles and tendons of the corpse's eternal grimace, he glimpsed the figures in contrasting suits of black and white beyond the gruesome sculpture.

"Humans are such frail creatures, are they not?" Hisoka heard, in the chilling voice that had so long haunted his recurring nightmares.

"I will not deny their uses though. They are delightful playthings. Just look at the beauty their raw materials can create. Their mortality is so enthrallingly poignant, sweet as their blood. I do sympathize with your infatuation with them, my love, but it is time that you accept their overall insignificance.

You have allowed much lowlier creatures to ensnare you, convince you that you share their very petty emotional weaknesses. It is not within your nature to feel these things, Tsuzuki. Will you not at last accept that we are brethren, and reject the inferior creatures from whom you so needlessly seek approval? They have most certainly rejected you, black lamb. They were never worthy of anything but your contempt. The sins you crucify yourself for are only sins in the eyes of the weak. You are stronger than these wretched insects, my perfect love."

Hisoka craned his head slightly to see them better, not wanting his presence known just yet. He struggled within himself, wanting to run to Tsuzuki, shield him from any hurtful things the manipulative monster might wish to burden his mind with, but at the same time, unable to suppress a burning need for the answers Muraki might reveal.

As Hisoka slowly drew closer, crouching out of sight, he saw that Tsuzuki had fallen to his knees, head hung low and his hair obscuring his face.

"No, Muraki," he heard Tsuzuki croak in a pitiful, low whisper.

"I offer you all that you have ever hoped for, Tsuzuki. There is peace in the darkness from which you were born. Above all, you crave love and forgiveness, and I am telling you that you have no need of either, that you have been disillusioned with an empathy for what is but dirt beneath your feet. Awaken, Asato! Hear my plea to your darkness! To your true self!" Muraki roared, his voice echoing through the room with a resonance that chilled Hisoka to his very soul as he watched the face of his lover with murmured prayers, begging him, though unsure what he was asking of the clearly shaken man.

Hisoka pulled himself up onto shaky legs, and darted around the pedestal, where he fell to his knees beside Tsuzuki. Muraki laughed, as Tsuzuki raised his head, his face wearing an impassive, malevolent smirk, and his eyes taking on a strange luminance.

"Poor timing as always, poppet," Muraki said, his focus shifting. "Would he not be beautiful drenched in blood, Tsuzuki? Our own undying doll to play with at our leisure. Would it not be delicious to hear his screams? I see no reason why we can't take him with us for our amusement."

"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka pleaded, looking into eyes he no longer recognized, reaching out tentatively to touch his face. He gasped as his arm was clutched with a lightening quick grab, Tsuzuki's hold tightening to an extent where Hisoka could feel the small bones of his wrist being crushed.

"All right, big fella. Unhand that chibi," Watari said, running in at the sound of Hisoka's pained cry. Tsuzuki wheeled around in anger, throwing Hisoka to the floor.

Hisoka looked up in a daze, to find the others had rushed in behind the blonde scientist, who was currently throwing anything he could pull out of his coat at an enraged Tsuzuki. Finding the powerful shinigami distracted, Hisoka saw Michael place his hands together, chanting softly as energy seemed to gather around him.

"Do you fools really think that you're any match for Tsuzuki?" Muraki asked, looking on with amusement.

"That isn't Tsuzuki," Hisoka growled, struggling to his feet. "What have you done to him, you bastard?"

"What your king and all his minions most feared, though knew was inevitable," Muraki said. Hisoka turned at the sound of a loud whoosh, a strong bluish light emanating from the now parted hands of Michael, who gazed upon Tsuzuki with intensity as the other shinigami released a fuda spell that knocked Watari off of his feet and sent him skidding across the floor. Before Tsuzuki could turn to respond, Michael unleashed his power upon him. Tsuzuki's eyes went wide, as he clutched at his throat, mouthing silently as he was struck dumb.

Unable to voice an incantation to retaliate, he lunged at the visibly weakened Michael, as Hy threw himself between them.

"I'm sorry, Tsuzuki," Hy said, eyes glistening, as he punched him in the jaw as hard as he could. Tsuzuki seemed only momentarily slowed, glaring at the boy murderously, as Finch and Alain stepped in on either side of him, spreading their arms in unison and chanting. Tsuzuki at last stilled, as a threads of golden light seemed to weave themselves around him.

Writhing, his voice returning to emit a howl of pain and anger, Tsuzuki fell to the floor, the golden light fading as the pair who had created it stood panting beside him.

Hisoka stumbled towards his fallen partner, but not before noticing that Muraki had gone.


	13. Chapter 13

"A team from our division has seen correcting the memory of any human witnesses," Finch said with a heavy sigh, collapsing into a chair back at the hotel, where Watari and Tsuzuki were laid out on their beds. Watari was already sitting up, demanding a full account and pouting that he'd been out for most of the battle.

"It would have been such a rare sight to see so many shinigami using their powers in one place," Watari said, poking at a bruise on his forehead that had already begun to heal.

"We were indeed fortunate to have our collective efforts against Tsuzuki. Otherwise things would have been grave indeed," Finch said solemnly.

Alain muttered something in French, to which Finch replied, with a withering stare, "This is neither the time or place."

Hisoka was only half listening as he stared at Tsuzuki's still form upon the bed.

"Finch?" Hisoka asked, looking up at him. "What did you and Alain do to Tsuzuki exactly? Is he going to be alright?"

"It was a common spell to drive back a demon," Finch replied, his heavy lidded eyes appearing even more exhausted than usual. "These are the spells in which Alain and myself specialize, which is why I have had the Vemulakonda case for many years. Our combined casting gave it sufficient potency to subdue him, but he will recover."

"Demon?" Hisoka asked, feeling dizzy as he felt Tsuzuki's unconscious mind stir unguarded.

"Yes," Finch said, regarding him with slight irritation. "He is your own lover and you do not know?"

Hisoka's head swam with buzzing thoughts and emotions, making the sound of Finch's voice sound far away as he laid his head down on Tsuzuki's chest and succumbed to the lure of sleep.

xxxx

"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka called in the darkness. He felt nothingness, no solid touch below him to secure him, and then the panic of falling rapidly.

"Where am I? What is happening?" he cried, his arms thrashing about him for something to cling to. His decent seemed to slow, and stop gradually.

The landscape still blank and black, he stood. From the nothingness, a single rose seemed to sprout and grow, followed rapidly by another, until he was surrounded by a bed of blood red blossoms that glowed with an eerie light in the otherwise barren landscape. Curiously, he reached to touch one, and felt the immediate sting of a thorn. The thorns seemed to grow longer, the stems twisting into a sea of brambles around him. He felt a wave of overwhelming despair and fell to his knees, sobbing like a child.

When he looked up once more, the vegetation was gone, leaving only the closely snipped heads of hundreds of blooms, their petals seeming to bleed and blur in his tearful vision.

"You do not belong here, Hisoka," he heard a small, child's voice say. As he looked around, a tiny figure take form from the shadows, and he knew it instantly, though he did not recall from where.

The child came closer, his eyes familiar but completely strange to him at the same time. They were like something he knew, something he cared about, but they were all wrong, too bright, and lacking a spark of emotion that he felt should be there.

"Who are you?" Hisoka asked.

"Asato," the child replied, cocking his head to one side.

"Is this -- is it really you, Tsuzuki?" Hisoka whispered.

"It is and it isn't," the child said with a shrug.

"I don't understand," Hisoka said, tears of frustration still falling down his face.

"You're not meant to," the child said. "You should go away before he destroys you, too."

The child faded before Hisoka could say another word.

"Tsuzuki! Where are you? What is this place?" Hisoka demanded.

Hisoka made out Tsuzuki's form in the darkness. He was crouched, his head hung low, much like Hisoka had last seen him before he had attacked everyone. Hisoka ran towards him, though he never seemed to gain any ground or grow any closer.

"Tsuzuki! Look at me! I want to understand. Please," Hisoka called to him. Tsuzuki looked up sadly from where he was studying his outstretched hands. They were stained with blood.

"We made a promise -- you can't leave me," Hisoka murmured, thrashing fitfully on the bed.

"Shh -- wake up, little one," Hisoka heard a voice say gently, a cool, assuring hand pressed to his forehead.

"Watari?" Hisoka asked, opening his eyes, and finding himself lying on the bed the scientist had occupied before. He sat up quickly, assuring himself that Tsuzuki where he'd seen him last.

"Is he okay? Has he stirred at all?" Hisoka asked. Watari shook his head.

"He's still unconscious. Finch and Alain are going to try to wake him once their energy is restored," Watari said.

"What are they going to do?" Hisoka asked uneasily.

"It is a spell to bind the demonic spirit inside Tsuzuki," Finch said, having overheard as he walked into the room. "If we weaken the demon's hold, then perhaps Tsuzuki can regain control of his senses. But it will be entirely up to him from that point."

"But," Hisoka said, confused. "I thought what you were trying to tell me was that Tsuzuki was the demon." Finch sighed, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"It isn't quite that simple. A being of both human and demonic origin is in constant conflict within themselves. They are warring spirits, like oil and water. It's almost as if the soul splits and forms separate wholes," Finch said.

"How do you know so much about such an odd thing, Finch?" Watari asked, listening with great interest.

"Because the Vemulakonda have been experimenting in order to engineer the perfect being from both human and demon genetics for nearly a century," Finch said.

xxxx

Hisoka sat outside of the door to his hotel room, replaying the confusing feelings and imagery he had experienced. Had he truly ventured somewhere into Tsuzuki's unconsciousness, or was it merely a strange dream? Had this strange child been apart of this demonic spirit within Tsuzuki of which Finch had spoken, the same phantom that had been haunting the shadows all this time?

Hisoka had been told to leave the room while Finch and Alain attempted to revive Tsuzuki, much to his dismay. He and the others waited anxiously on the walkway between rooms, watching a sheet of rain paint the world gray around them. It was the early hours of the morning, and none of them had slept well, someone always standing guard in case Tsuzuki awoke and was still no longer in his right mind.

Feeling he would go mad if he focused on his troubles any longer, he observed those who waited with him. Watari seemed uncharacteristically subdued, as if he also had much on his mind. He had told Hisoka that Tatsumi would want to know about all that was happening here and would be angry that he wasn't informed, but that Watari knew that once the Ministry secretary got even the slightest clue that Tsuzuki was in such a state that he would immediately come to Paris, damn the consequences. And they would have enough explaining to do on their return as it was.

Hy and Michael seemed to be continuing with the odd distance between them that Hisoka had absently noted during breakfast, Hy sitting alone at the balcony's edge, smoking one of his cigars and watching the rain. Hisoka rose and went to sit beside him.

"I thought you were trying to quit," Hisoka said. Hy gave a shrug, and didn't meet his eyes.

"Doesn't seem to matter much right now," Hy said quietly, throwing the half smoked cigar over the ledge. "Do you think Tsuzuki will be mad that I punched him?"

"I doubt he'll remember," Hisoka said. "I don't think that was Tsuzuki."

"No, it couldn't have been," Hy said. "I'm really sorry about all this, Hisoka. Maybe I --" He trailed off, shaking his head.

"What is it?" Hisoka prompted.

"Maybe I shouldn't have let Tatsumi and Watari convince me in letting you get involved after all," Hy said. "I just sort of trusted that two smart fellas like them would know best, but it was still my decision in the end."

"This would have happened either way. I think that's what Tsuzuki has been trying to protect me from all this time. He knew something was changing within him, but he didn't want to tell me," Hisoka said, flinching. "I don't know why the big idiot just can't accept that we're in this together, that I promised never to leave him and that he can't just push me away now --". Hisoka closed his eyes, fighting tears he felt too tired to shed. He felt the cautious touch of a warm hand seeking his, and, after a slight uneasy pause, accepted it.

"I know what y'all are going through is a lot worse, but in a way, I kinda understand," Hy said giving his palm a gentle squeeze. Hisoka was unsure what to say, and didn't wish to pry. Sensing his discomfort, Hy gave him a forced smile.

"Michael's good, ain't he?" Hy asked shyly. "I mean, I hate that he had to do that to Tsuzuki, but --".

"Yes. You were right, I was impressed," Hisoka answered. "It's okay, Hy. We had to protect ourselves, and he wasn't injured."

The door behind them flew open, Alain gesturing towards him.

"Hisoka, come," he asked. Hisoka gave him a bewildered look and followed him into the room.

Tsuzuki was tossing on the bed, murmuring low as if he were in the midst of a bad dream. Finch stood beside him in the low light of the bedside lamp, chanting, his hands ghosting patterns in the air above him.

"The worst is over," Alain explained quietly. "Finch thinks it best if you are near to draw him forward."

Hisoka looked at him questioningly before receiving a nod as he reached for Tsuzuki's hand.

"Tsuzuki? It's me, Hisoka," he said quietly, leaning near Tsuzuki's ear. Tsuzuki was drenched in sweat, his white shirt torn and disarrayed as if he had been through a physical struggle.

"Please, Tsuzuki, I know you're tired, but you need to fight it," Hisoka said, the tears he'd held back now flowing. "I don't know what you're going through, and I don't completely understand, but I know you're struggling against something, and I need you to try.

Muraki's wrong, Tsuzuki. You are human. You've never been anything else."

Tsuzuki's breathing quickened and his lips fell still in their mutterings.

"Remember when you told me I was selfish in Kyoto?" Hisoka continued, choking back a sob. "Well, I am selfish. I need you, and I'm not going to let you go. You need to fight it for me, Tsuzuki."

Tsuzuki's body pitched upward slightly, and he went rigid, panting furiously. Finch's chants became louder, as Alain attempted to hold him down on the bed. Hisoka stepped back, holding his breath and digging his nails into his palms. Tsuzuki's body relaxed at last, Alain wiping his brow with a handkerchief on the bedside table and whispering an incantation.

Tsuzuki opened his eyes.

Xxxx

"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asked, pushing Alain aside and climbing onto the bed. "Tsuzuki can you understand me?"

Tsuzuki nodded weakly, giving a small smile. Hisoka kissed him, lightly, clinging to him tightly with an exhausted sob, as Tsuzuki feebly raised an arm to pat him on the back. Finch and Alain quietly exited the room.

After Hisoka had satisfied himself that Tsuzuki was indeed safely himself and moderately coherent, running his fingers over the other man's face and asking him simple questions, he sat up with a deep sigh.

"You stupid, moronic, selfish martyr of a baka!" Hisoka yelled, smacking him on the head.

"The hell?" Tsuzuki murmured in complaint. "I'm kind of defenseless right now, baby."

"Do you have any idea how much you've worried me? How much danger you brought on yourself and the rest of us? Why did you leave us there? Did you really think I wouldn't find a way to follow you? Don't you ever do anything like that again, you hear me?" Hisoka went red in the face, hitting Tsuzuki repeatedly over the head with a pillow to punctuate his words.

Stopping with the pillow in mid air, he stared at Tsuzuki's pale, bewildered face, and the wide, innocent expression in his beautiful eyes that Hisoka had been uncertain he would ever see again. He sensed love there, and, of equal importance to him at that moment, he sensed trust. Dropping the pillow, he collapsed once more across the older man's chest and broke into fresh sobs once more.

"I'm just so grateful that you've come back to me," Hisoka said, his words muffled from where he buried his face in Tsuzuki's chest. Tsuzuki shushed him soothingly, rubbing his back with whispered apologies.

"I've never cried so much in my life," Hisoka said with a slight hiccup, looking up at him with swollen red eyes.

"Just rest, baby," Tsuzuki said, wiping a tear from his cheek. Hisoka nodded, and without another word, curled against him and slept.

Xxxx

Hisoka awoke to the sensation of warm lips and hands exploring his body.

"Tsuzuki -- Watari," Hisoka protested groggily, reluctantly pushing him away.

"Is staying in Hy and Michael's room," Tsuzuki replied.

Despite the time they'd lacked the privacy to be together, they took things slowly, tender caresses and lingering kisses speaking of things they knew would only be lost in mere words. The two men knew that something even more profound had awakened between them, as Hisoka at last felt another of the many doors Tsuzuki had kept locked between them open, and a hope that had not been there before.

_You're going to save me from myself._

_I know who you are, and I love you._

_I need you so much that it scares me._

_Wherever you are heading, I will follow you._

_Xxxx_

"Rested up, boys?" Watari called, barging into the room.

"Should've made him give back the key, baka," Hisoka muttered, his eyelashes fluttering as he awoke, and clutched the covers closer.

"Well, everything seems back to normal here," Watari said with a giggle upon seeing their state of undress. "Wasn't it nice of me to give you some privacy?"

"Do you have a reason to be in here?" Hisoka groaned, pulling the pillow over his head.

"You're welcome," Watari sniffed, then took a more serious tone. "Finch has a lead, if you're sure you want to continue with this."

Tsuzuki sat up, glancing back at Hisoka, before giving Watari a nod.

"Then we'll meet you in the lobby when you're ready," Watari said with a wink. "I'm so happy that you're back big fella. You even had me worried for a moment there."

Tsuzuki gave him a smile before he left the room.

"Tsuzuki -- if you want to go home --," Hisoka began.

"No. I told you we were coming here for answers, and we're not leaving until we get them. Muraki didn't bring the files with him. He was trying to lure me to another location with them," Tsuzuki said.

"Do you have an idea what is in them?" Hisoka asked. "Are they from the time you were under the care of Muraki's grandfather?"

"They aren't my medical files. They're my mother's," Tsuzuki said.


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: Well, well, well, look who just decided to wander back in as if nothing ever happened. I'm so sorry that it's been so long. My computer crashed way back in December last year (yep, it's been that long), and I just couldn't get myself to rewrite everything I'd lost. Starting over is never easy, especially when you're prone to writer's block as it is. But enough whining... I hope you're still interested! Love, Lucy May_

Tsuzuki and Hisoka reached the lobby, where the others sat waiting for them on a row of seats near the check-in desk. Alain was not with them. Finch studied a long sheet of well creased paper, his lips bloodless as he bit them in an expression of deep concentration. His hazel eyes rolled up slowly at their approach.

"Are you well enough to continue?" Finch asked, looking so exhausted that he seemed scarcely able to answer in the affirmative to his own inquiry. Tsuzuki nodded.

"Good," Finch said, folding the paper back deftly and standing. "I have acquired evidence at last of something I have suspected for years. We have no time to waste." He strode out to the street briskly, leaving the others exchanging looks of confusion before following.

The sidewalk traffic was heavy, and the men struggled to keep Finch within their sight as he effortlessly wove around the throng of early commuters on streets he knew instinctively. Hisoka shivered, feeling something distinctly odd, though he could not quite place it. It seemed that there was an urgency to the rate at which they traveled, and it unnerved him.

"I saw Finch and Alain leave the hotel last night when I was out for a smoke," Hy called from behind Tsuzuki and Hisoka, lagging slightly behind. "I asked where they were going, but he was just a smartass to me as usual. He came back alone this morning."

The almost comically single file of shinigami, nearly breathless from pursuit, nearly marched into one another as the one that led them came to an abrupt halt before an alleyway. Finch glanced back to where Hy was stumbling to meet them, his expression unreadable, and slowed his pace before stepping into the shadows ahead.

"I visited the office of Dr. Henri Romaine, a known associate of the Vemulakonda family last night. He had been murdered," Finch said quietly, leading them through an odd labyrinth of alleys and less occupied back streets. "I found this map hidden in the bottom of a locked drawer in his office, and an appointment book with a vague reference that seemed to be about a delivery. Alain found -- there was also, this." Finch stopped, reaching into his jacket and pulled out a torn, muddy scrap of paper in a plastic bag.

"Why didn't you just tell us this back at the hotel?" Watari asked, taking the bag from him with interest and holding it up to the ray of sunlight that filtered weakly between the buildings they stood between.

Finch opened his mouth to speak, when his cell phone rang. He hastily answered, turning his back to them.

"Did you lose them?" Finch asked in English, before conversing in French.

"Because we were being followed," Hisoka said. They watched in tense silence as Finch's voice rose argumentatively, and he at last hung up the phone, shoving it into his pocket with an exasperated look that broke his usual composure momentarily.

"Where is Alain?" Tsuzuki asked.

"I sent him back to the office. His business is no longer in the field," Finch said.

"Who did he lead away from us?" Hisoka asked firmly. Finch looked at him irritably, and sighed.

"I do not know. He sensed we were being followed last night, though I never saw anything. He has always been very sensitive to spiritual forces, and I do not believe our pursuers were human," Finch said. "He says he no longer felt any presence when he reached the Ministry."

"You were worried about him, weren't you?" Watari asked. Finch gave him a withering look before glancing down at the bag the scientist held.

"What do you make of that?" Finch asked. Watari shook his head.

"I speak Romanian, but I'm afraid when it comes to reading it --" Watari stopped in surprise, as Michael snaked a pale arm around him and snatched the bag, giving him a sheepish half-smile.

"So, does that mean Alain is an empath, like Hisoka?" Hy asked, while Michael studied the ruined parchment.

"Empaths are attuned to the emotions and thought patterns of humans," Finch explained. "Alain's gift is different."

Hisoka's eyes sought Tsuzuki's, who looked at him quizzically.

"No," they heard Michael gasp softly, distracting them. The boy's shaggy dark hair shadowed pale blue eyes that were tearful, as his knees seemed to weaken. He fell back against the wall, shaking his head.

"What is it Michael? What's wrong?" Watari asked gently, steadying the boy with a hand on his shoulder. Hy looked on, biting his lip, and looking torn.

"This is a document from the Romanian sector of the Ministry," Michael said, placing a finger to the bottom of the page. "I can make out my mother's own seal, just there."

"How would a mortal doctor have gotten such a thing?" Watari asked in wonder.

"What kind of document is it?" Hisoka asked. Michael frowned deeply, letting the parchment slip from his shaking fingers.

"From what I can make out, it looks like it concerns the death of a shinigami by the name of Viorel Lior. I knew him," Michael said, gazing at where the page had fallen to the ground.

"That name sounds familiar, somehow," Tsuzuki said, his brow furrowing. Michael looked up at him with confusion, his eyes shining.

"It shouldn't. He died over forty years ago," Michael whispered.

"Perhaps I'm mistaken," Tsuzuki said, looking at him sympathetically. "Was he a friend of yours?"

Michael shook his head, avoiding Tsuzuki's eyes by gathering the sheet and handing it to Watari. Hisoka glanced at Hy, a succession of conflicted emotions playing across the young man's face.

"We will not find any answers here. Come," Finch said impatiently, and led them from the alley.

XXXX

"What is this map of?" Tsuzuki asked, as they followed Finch onto a deserted street, in a neighborhood that looked all but abandoned, the buildings in ill repair, and many of the windows broken or boarded up.

"The catacombs," Finch answered, heading into an overgrown path beside an empty building. He glanced back with a frown. "Watch for roots, Hy. It would be inconvenient if you were injured."

"Don't worry about me," Hy grumbled, looking embarrassed.

Finch dove into the thigh high grass and brambles, making his way to a rusted gate blocking the back yard, and kicking it with a curse. Watari made his way to the front of the group, inspecting the padlock.

"Um, this one isn't booby trapped is it?" Watari asked with a nervous laugh, fishing his tools from his lab coat. Finch shook his head.

Watari made short work of the weathered lock, stepping aside and allowing Finch to pass. They followed him into a small yard behind the building, as Finch made his way towards a dilapidated tool shed.

Finch darted into the old wooden building, the others rushing forward, as what sounded like a scuffle came from inside, a surprised high pitch yelp echoing off the surrounding buildings. They stood back with surprise as Finch drug what appeared to be a very dirty young boy in ragged clothes from the shack by the ear.

"Ow! What the hell, Finch?" the child screeched in English, squirming indignantly, and letting off a stream of what were no doubt curses in French.

"You're coming with us, Sophie. I need your help, and you owe me," Finch said, releasing what, on closer inspection, was indeed a girl.

"Yeah, yeah, what is it this time?" Sophie grumbled, stopping her protests with a startled look as she spied the others. "Who the heck are they?"

"They are the same as I. We need to get into the catacombs," Finch answered. "I have found a map."

"A map?" Sophie said, her piqued interest taking her attention from the others. "Let me see it."

"No," Finch answered, crossing his arms across his chest and smirking. Sophie pouted, tugging at the filthy newsboy hat the concealed her hair.

"Where's Alain? I like him better. He's nice," Sophie muttered.

Finch ignored her, taking her arm and leading her towards the street.

"Sophie knows the catacombs. She will guide us," Finch said.

"I'm not going anywhere until you feed me," Sophie protested. "I haven't had anything to eat in months!"


	15. Chapter 15

The men sat at a sidewalk café a few blocks from where they'd found the girl, Finch sighing impatiently all the while. The motley group of shinigami escorting the ragged waif earned a few strange looks from the other diners, as Sophie seemed to order every desert off the menu, and attacked them with fervor. Hisoka watched in amusement the mirrored acts of gluttony sitting on either side of him, Tsuzuki matching her enthusiasm in attacking his own meal.

"Did you say that you had not eaten for months, child?" Watari asked, as Sophie licked her plate before turning to the next. "I'm sure this is an exaggeration, but watching you keep up with Tsuzuki makes me wonder."

"Of course she's exaggerating, silly. If she'd gone that long without eating, she wouldn't be alive," Hy said with laugh.

"M'not alive," Sophie mumbled around a mouthful, shrugging.

The men stopped, looking at her curiously, then to Finch.

"He was supposed to make me go, but I didn't want to," Sophie said, pointing at Finch with her spoon.

"You were supposed to take her to the other side? But --" Hisoka started.

"I convinced my superiors that she could be a valuable contact, and she has been," Finch cut in, sipping his wine and looking thoughtfully out into the street.

"Do you have that many cases that end up underground?" Watari asked. Finch looked at him with a sardonic smile.

"You'd be surprised. The tunnels run at least 300 kilometers throughout the city They are very difficult to navigate, much less patrol. That is why I always suspected that the Vemulakonda may use them as a refuge. We've discovered their above ground facilities too easily," Finch said.

"You think that they've managed to conceal an entire underground laboratory for their experiments down there?" Hisoka asked in disbelief.

"Strange things have gone on there undiscovered before. There was once an entire bar and cinema that operated secretly beneath the Palais de Chaillot. The authorities probably do not know half of the secrets to be found there. Artists, vagrants, explorers, people of all walks of life have made it their playground. Sophie does not know the entire system, but she spent many years on the streets and beneath them. Her sense of direction can be uncanny. Many grown men have lost their way in the catacombs," Finch said. Sophie beamed with pride, licking chocolate syrup from her fingers.

XXXX

The shinigami and their guide walked across a vacant lot on the outskirts of town, shouldering the supplies they had procured from a shop in the city. The grass was mostly brown, and the ground littered with bottles, old clothes, the remnants of trash fires, and other signs of habitation by the city's homeless, though the place was unoccupied by anyone else and eerily silent for its proximity to an urban area. The ground steadily sloped before reaching a steep drop, where train tracks ran through a shallow trench.

"We've got to go down there and follow the tracks for a bit," Sophie said, pointing down, before clambering down the steep bank. Hisoka saw Hy grimace slightly, and offered him a hand. Hy smiled at him in surprise and gratitude, and using Hisoka's shoulder and arm to steady himself, the two followed behind the others, finally reaching the narrow strip of gravel below that was mostly taken by the railroad tracks.

"Thanks, Hisoka," Hy said, looking embarrassed.

"Are you sure you're going to be able to make it okay?" Hisoka asked. "If we're going underground, we'll probably have to move through some pretty treacherous places." Hy sighed, and pulled a small bottle of pills from his pocket, shaking it.

"I can get around pretty much as good as I used to, it's just the pain --" Hy trailed off, shaking his head. "I've been avoiding taking these things, but once we get in there, it's going to be important for me to move in my corporate form, as Jarrett always called it."

"If they help, why haven't you been taking them?" Hisoka asked.

"My mom," Hy said with a shrug. "Well, she used to take lots of pills, and I didn't see that they did her anything I'd call good. They're what killed her."

"I'm sorry," Hisoka said. He saw Hy look ahead briefly, and followed his gaze to where Michael was looking back at them with a frown.

"So, what are we supposed to do if a train comes?" Watari asked loudly up ahead of them, where he was holding his arms out on either side and walking along one of the rails like it were a balance beam. Hy giggled nervously, his wide gray eyes showing a touch of unease.

"Don't worry, there's plenty of room to get out of the way," Hisoka said, looking doubtfully at the wedge of space between the gravel and the side of the hill.

XXXX

After a thankfully train-free hike, the group came upon an overpass, where the train ran beneath an empty road.

"This is it!" Sophie called, scrambling beneath the concrete bridge, and approaching one arched side of the inner wall. They circled her as they caught up, watching her disappear with a grin back at them into a low, jagged hole that looked as though it had been made with a sledge hammer. Finch and Michael followed without a word, while Tsuzuki looked at Watari with alarm.

"You first," Tsuzuki said. Watari rolled his eyes, crouching beside the hole.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Watari said, crawling into the gap. "I guess this isn't the ideal time for me to remember that I'm not particularly fond of closed in spaces," he called back with an uneasy laugh.

Hisoka and the others followed, and were soon in darkness, the cold rock somewhat damp beneath them. Hisoka started slightly at the eerie, echoed sound of Sophie humming a children's song ahead of them. As his eyes adjusted, he could just make out the dim glow of her flashlight.

After just enough time to make Hisoka begin to truly sympathize with Watari's earlier fears, he heard a splash and reverberating giggles and curses ahead before emerging into narrow but thankfully higher ceilinged tunnel. Tsuzuki caught him by the arm before he could step into the sluice that ran slowly along the side of the wall, and lifted him over it and onto the damp stone beyond.

"Tsuzuki! I think I could have managed," Hisoka grumbled with embarrassment, before turning to warn Hy to watch his step.

"Are any of these caverns open to the public?" Watari asked ahead of them as they fell into single file. Hisoka fished out his own flashlight, watching his step along the uneven rock beneath him.

"Only about two kilometers out of hundreds," Finch replied. There is a path through some of the ossuaries that is closed off from the rest."

"Oh, how fascinating! I shall have to go there sometime when I'm not here on business," Watari said cheerfully. Hisoka didn't have to see Finch to know his eyes rolled as he gave a grunt in reply.

"Over here, guys!" Sophie called out. Hisoka looked ahead to see an opening as roughly hewn as the one they'd gone through at the overpass, but much larger. "We're officially entering the catacombs now."

Sophie and Finch went through, Watari lingering briefly to observe a brightly painted line off graffiti above the hole.

"Welcome to hell," Watari read. "Well, that doesn't sound very pleasant."


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: I deeply appreciate your reviews, AnimeAngelRin, laustic and Saruvi. It's a bit of relief to know that someone is still reading after all this time! I really needed the encouragement after such a long writer's block. Love, Lucy May_

The area they entered was a stark contrast to the roughly hewn tunnels from which they'd come. The walls were neatly bricked, with deep, empty shelves lining the walls, and between them, a firmly boarded up doorway.

"Are we in someone's wine cellar?" Tsuzuki asked uneasily, peering about like they may be caught intruding any minute.

"It is very likely. Many old buildings have basements that run into the catacombs and have long since been sealed," Finch said. "In fact, I recall that the last time I entered it was beneath a public bar. Why did we not take that route, Sophie? Surely it is less dangerous?"

"It got bricked up about a year ago," Sophie said with a shrug. "Some of the thugs lurking around down here used it to break in when the place was closed."

They followed her through a stone archway, which led into a complicated labyrinth of tunnels beyond. Sophie led them around the winding and intersecting pathways surely, though to her companions they all looked more or less alike, though some were more narrow than others. It felt as though they'd already marched for an hour, before the girl stopped, pointing at a lichen speckled metal sign nailed near the low ceiling.

"There we go. Now we know what street we're under," Sophie announced, wiping her dirty, upturned nose on her sleeve.

"There are street signs? Oh, how handy!" Watari said.

"A street collapsed into the quarries a really long time ago," Sophie said. "They sent a lot of work crews down to strengthen things up, and they made maps and put up signs and stuff."

"Is there a still a danger of places collapsing since the renovation?" Watari asked, glancing up at the ceiling suspiciously.

"There are strict standards for building in Paris, due to the potential instability of hollow ground below," Finch said. "But it still is not unheard of. It is just one of many reasons that the chambers are closed to the public."

"There's still lots of people down here though. Artists, crooks, explorers, vagrants, you'd be surprised," Sophie said. "There's a lot of people they call cataphiles that like to hang out down here all the time. You've got to be careful, though. I've met some real loonies."

"Well, now that we know where we are, where are we going?" Hy asked. Finch sighed, pulling the folded map from his pocket and reluctantly presenting it to Sophie at last. The girl's eyes gleamed as she took it and spread it out on the ground, crouching beside it.

"Not bad," she said appraisingly. "I mean, I've seen better, but they've got the landmarks noted. There's the beach."

"The beach?" Watari asked. "Is there some kind of underground lake?"

"No, silly," Sophie said with a grin. "It's just what they call it. It's a chamber with lots of sand on the floor, and people like to paint pretty things on the walls."

"We hardly have time for sightseeing, Sophie," Finch said, pointing to an area in red in the center of the carefully drawn array of lines, and clearing his throat.

"Geez," Sophie said with a whistle. "That's in the very heart there. Even I've never been that far in."

"Can you take us there?" Finch asked.

"Well, yeah, I can figure it out, but it's going to take us a while," Sophie said.

"Could we get there any sooner if we went back to the surface and entered at a different place?" Tsuzuki asked.

"No, not really," Sophie said, her face screwed up in concentration. "I mean, I know of a loose manhole, but it's on the other side of town, and by the time we went all the way out there, it'd be about the same difference."

"We have no time to waste then," Finch said. "You may hold onto the map for now."

Sophie tried to look nonchalant, snapping the map up and cramming it into her pack, but gave herself away by the skip in her step as she proceeded to lead them onwards.

XXXX

"This place is simply astounding!" Watari exclaimed, falling breathlessly onto a bench carved out of the limestone, an equally impressive stone table before it. "But you know, even we need rest."

"We can stop here then, though we've not made as much progress as I'd hoped" Finch said.

The path they had followed to come this far had indeed left the men exhausted. Sophie had taken them through spaces they had to crawl through, sections so narrow they could barely squeeze through side-ways, and around many flooded tunnels. And, as Sophie had predicted, they'd come upon a more than a few groups of people, most of them young, who looked at the party of men being led by a small girl with curiosity but asked no questions.

There was a surprising lot of evidence of the people who had come before them as well, many of the chambers they wandered through decorated in mysterious ways, including a statue of a man emerging from the stone walls, and a garden of plastic vines and flowers.

"Thank goodness!" Tsuzuki said, stretching and giving a wide yawn. "I know I'm ready to set up camp!" He dropped the pack he'd been carrying on his back with a thud, and sat on the ground beside it, fishing through it eagerly. "I wonder if I could convince Suzaku to make us a campfire?"

"I don't think that would be a very good idea with the lack of ventilation, Tsuzuki," Hisoka said with exasperation, spreading out his sleeping bag before sitting beside him.

"But I wanted s'mores," Tsuzuki whimpered, looking desolately at the bag of marshmallows he'd pulled from his bag.

"Please tell me you brought some food besides sweets," Hisoka groaned. "I knew I should have never put you in charge of getting food for both of us."

"I've got sardines," Sophie said, holding out a tin of oily fish.

"No, thanks," Hisoka said with a forced smile, taking a box of graham crackers from Tsuzuki.

"So how did you and Finch meet, Sophie," Hy said, then his eyes widened upon realizing his mistake. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Sophie said, her large brown eyes looking down at her tin. "I got lost, that's all. And Finch found me down here."

Silence fell over them for a moment, everyone eating the rations of food they'd brought, and settling in for a very cold sleep.

"You speak French and English both very well, Sophie," Watari said, watching the girl play with a compass that she'd dug out of her pocket.

"My mom was French, and my dad was English. Dad wasn't around for very long -- he -- well, he was someone important or something back in England and he couldn't bring me or mom back with him because they weren't married. He left when I was pretty small, and mom just didn't have a lot of time. I had a great brother once though, Etienne. He's the one who made sure I kept up with my English," Sophie said with a sad smile.

"What happened to him?" Watari asked.

"I -- I don't know. He was just gone one day. I know something bad happened though. He would have never left me alone with her," Sophie said. "She always had strange men around, and I didn't like the way they would look at me. I ran away when I was eleven."

Hisoka sensed a strong wave of conflicting emotion that startled him. He looked up in alarm, and saw a man emerging from the shadows behind where Finch was sitting. The feeling evaporated as soon as it had come, as Finch whipped around quickly and got to his feet.

The man held up his hands in a show of no harm meant, rambling apologetically in French.

"Who are you?" Finch demanded warily in English.

"I'm just a passerby," the man answered in a gravelly voice, his eyes quickly scanning their faces, and his mouth twisted into a yellow toothed smirk. He was disheveled and unshaven, a shock of filthy blonde hair spilling from beneath his hat, and wearing an old and torn green trench coat. "You all English?"

"Well," Watari said with a grin. "We have two who are French, one Romanian, an American, and the rest of us are from Japan."

"You got the whole damn UN down here, don't you?" the man said with a laugh. "Well, greetings to the fellow American, and the rest of you. I'm Sam. Ziggy should be this way in a minute. He's taking a piss."

As soon as he said this, a short man with dark hair and glasses timidly emerged from behind his companion, looking to him curiously. Sam gave him an answer, in what sounded like German, that seemed to satisfy him for a moment, until he got a good look at Sophie. His eyes widened as he pointed at her, exclaiming something to Sam, who shook his head.

"Ziggy's been hanging out down here too long. He's starting to let it get to him," Sam said.

"What is that he said about demon children?" Watari asked.

"Ah, so you picked up some of that, did you?" Sam said with a grin. "Well, you see, there's a bit of a legend down here among the more seasoned cataphiles that there are some children wandering around down here who never seem to age. He says the little missy there fits one of the descriptions to a tee." The men looked at each other uneasily. Sam laughed and shrugged.

"Nothing to be freaked out about, fellas. She just looks like a normal kid to me, if a bit young to be keeping the company of a bunch of grown men in a cave," Sam said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm her father," Tsuzuki blurted out, nodding enthusiastically, looking around as if to find a way to further elaborate his story. "Yeah, and Hisoka here's her moth-- er, her uncle." He followed his exclamation with a pained yelp as Hisoka kicked him in the shin.

"I see," Sam said, rubbing his chin whiskers. "Hey, man, it's none of my business, right?"

"Can you get your friend to tell us more about these sightings he mentioned?" Finch asked.

"Well, I think they're a bunch of bull hockey myself, but sure, it's a good atmosphere for spook stories," Sam said, turning to Ziggy and asking him. Watari's eyes widened slightly as Ziggy told his tale, but he left it to Sam to explain.

"Well, there's three of them in particular that people have reported seeing for years. One's like the little one here, a little dark haired French girl in dirty clothes and a hat. The other two come in a pair, a boy and a girl, dressed in Indian saris, of all things. The French girl's supposed to be pretty friendly, but if you see the twins, you better watch your back. Seems they have a pretty evil sense of humor, and like to lead people in the wrong direction and get them good and lost. They say some of those who are aren't ever seen again," Sam said.

"It's them. It has to be," Hy whispered, shivering.

_A/N: There is a mixture of fact and fiction in depicting the Parisian Catacombs in this story, but as most of it is based on fact, I feel I should acknowledge that I have at least half-remembered information from the Paris "Cities of the Underworld" program on the Travel Channel, Wikipedia, and National Geographic. Being the history geek I am, I've read plenty about them since I was a kid, but these are the most recently consulted sources that come to mind, and no infringement is intended, nor is anything directly quoted ._


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: I'm back! Did you miss me? Hope the long chapter will earn me forgiveness. - Lucy May_

Sam and Ziggy sat in a corner of the chamber with Sophie, comparing maps under Finch's watchful gaze. Finch had been reluctant to allow Sophie to let the strange men see their map, until the girl had convinced him that any advice she could pick up from other seasoned cataphiles might be useful further on in their journey. It seemed Ziggy had overcome of his fear of the child, and he eagerly joined their discussion, using Sam as a translator.

Hisoka watched Hy shyly approach Michael, who had placed his sleeping bag somewhat away from the rest of them, and lie facing the wall.

"Hey," Hy said gently, shaking his shoulder and crouching beside him. "It's really cold in this here cave, you know? So, if you want, I thought maybe we could zip our bags together. I -- I promise that I --"

Hy stopped as Michael shook his head. Michael rolled onto his back and whispered something before turning back to the wall.

"Well, now you're just being plum ridiculous," Hy said, a slight tremor in his voice. He hung his head and slunk back to where he'd laid his own bag, pulling it around him.

"Hey, Finch," Sophie called, to where Finch appeared to be watching the exchange between Hy and Michael with interest, tearing his eyes from Hy's huddled form. "I think I found a good shortcut for us to take. It's kind of a yucky one, though," she said, wrinkling her nose. Finch strode over to where the other three were looking at the map, joining their conversation.

Watari scooted closer to Hy, giving him a firm pat on the back and fishing around in his lab coat pocket.

"If you're cold, I've got just the thing," Watari said, tossing what looked like a small cushion into his lap. "Just break the seal, the chemicals in the bag mix, and voila! It stays warm for hours."

"Wow, thanks, Watari," Hy said, offering him a grateful smile. "It's real neat how you come up with stuff like that."

"Well, I didn't invent the concept, but I did at least make my own version," Watari said, preening. "It isn't the most fun way to stay warm, but it will do." Hy deflated slightly.

"I'm sorry, chibi. Do you want to talk about it?" Watari asked.

"No, I just really need some sleep now," Hy said and yawned, giving one last glance towards Michael before curling up into a ball beneath the cover of his bag.

Sophie bid Sam and Ziggy farewell as the men disappeared into the dank and darkness, taking the little bag Watari offered her with wonder, listening to his instructions. Finch took it from her and looked at it suspiciously until she begged for its return, relenting with a sigh.

He led her to a little niche in the cave wall, helping her get settled and watching her eyelids finally droop to a close, before joining the others, who sat in the center of the chamber around the last lantern still alight.

"Like I'd offer a child anything that would harm her," Watari said with a sniff, as Finch sat, ignoring him. "Just for that, I'm not letting you have one."

"You've been quiet," Hisoka said, placing a hand on Tsuzuki's arm. "Are you feeling okay?" Tsuzuki gave a shrug, throwing open the corner of the unzipped sleeping bag he had draped over his shoulders in invitation. Hisoka frowned slightly, casting a glance at the others, before crawling closer.

Tsuzuki drew him back to sit between his legs before throwing the cover back over them and winding his arms around him.

"There. That's better," Tsuzuki murmured into Hisoka's ear, as Hisoka shot Watari a warning look, daring him to say anything.

"So, did Sophie find a good way to go?" Watari asked, seeming to have already moved past the perceived slight regarding his present to Sophie.

"The men had not gone so far in themselves, and warned us that we must not try it. This is, I think, a good sign, as it means even intrepid explorers avoid the area. The less innocents wandering within their reach, the better, as there are likely to be traps," Finch said, seemingly broken from deep concentration as he stared absently into the darkness. "She has been advised of a shortcut that she believes will be helpful, however."

"Are you sure that we shouldn't have brought Alain with us?" Hisoka asked. "His powers could have proven useful. How do we know we're not still being followed or watched?"

"Alain is not suited to field work," Finch said, his voice taking a slight edge. "I have my own powers, which will suffice. As we draw closer to the area indicated on the map, I will summon Matagot for assistance, and send Sophie home."

"Is Matagot your shiki?" Hisoka asked. Finch nodded.

"He will guide us when the danger is too great, and warn us of any harmful presence. I have postponed using his assistance for a time for obvious reasons. Summoning can cause a great deal of fatigue, as I am sure you are aware," Finch said.

Hisoka stiffened slightly, looking down. He had never quite overcome his feelings of inadequacy in having no proper shiki of his own. Tsuzuki seemed to sense his discomfort and knew its meaning, clutching him tighter. Hisoka squirmed and shrugged him off grumpily, this slight to his pride hardly receptive to comforting from a man who had twelve shiki himself.

"I wouldn't know," Hisoka muttered.

"Ah, then you have no guardian spirit," Finch said, waving his hand. "It is of no great importance. You have the empathic powers, which are rare."

"They aren't much help when we're in danger," Hisoka said.

"If it is any consolation, Matagot is of no use in battle. But with your powers, as mine are with Matagot, you can anticipate danger. This is sometimes even more helpful, no?" Finch asked.

"I suppose," Hisoka said reluctantly, though still giving Finch a look of surprised gratitude, caught off guard somewhat by the standoffish young man's understanding words.

"And sometimes they're not all they are cracked up to be, little one. Look at Terazuma's," Watari said with a laugh. "Imagine if you turned into a hellhound every time you tried to touch Tsuzuki." Tsuzuki shuddered, and Hisoka scowled.

"Ah, your friend must have the parasitic variety then, I take it," Finch said.

"Yes. And Hy didn't exactly benefit from his either," Watari said.

"I was wondering what had left him injured, despite the normally regenerative health of our kind. It is a pity," Finch said quietly, gazing back at the boy's sleeping form with interest.

XXXX

Hisoka felt firm, sure hands caressing his body, warm breath ghosting over his ear as he instinctively pressed back into the body behind him.

"Tsuzuki, not here," Hisoka whispered, despite his longing.

"Guess again," whispered an all too familiar voice.

Hiosoka screamed and thrashed, fighting the confines of the sleeping bag futilely as his skin burned and crawled.

"Shh, shh. Wake up, baby," Tsuzuki said, rubbing soothing circles over his back as the last echoes of his cries died, and the damp and chill brought him back to reality.

"Muraki," Hisoka whispered, humiliated to find the torch relit and the curious gazes of those they camped with turned toward him. They had all been awakened by his cries save for Michael and Sophie, and he loathed the way they looked at him with both questioning and pity.

"He probably knows we're here," Hisoka added softly, pulling the bag closer to him and turning to face Tsuzuki's chest, which shielded him from the others' eyes.

"I'm sure he never doubted that we would be," Tsuzuki said reassuringly.

Calm settled back over their camp, and the men grew quiet once more, leaving the lantern burning. Hisoka could not return to sleep, and he was unsure how long he lie there, watching Tsuzuki's breathing slow as slumber reclaimed him. He heard the rustling and footsteps behind him as some of the others likely went to find a place in which to relieve themselves, and after a time untangled himself from Tsuzuki's embrace to do the same.

Flashlight in hand, he turned to retrace his steps from the niche he'd found a short walk away from their camp, when he heard soft voices drifting from a cavern just ahead. He turned off his light and found the dim glow of another's coming from the chamber, stealthily making his way over to investigate.

"Please, don't," Hisoka heard Hy's voice breathlessly pant, as he peered into the opening. He was startled to find Finch pinning the other boy against the wall, his hands fisting in Hy's shirt as he trailed fervent kisses along his throat. Finch captured Hy's lips, silencing his protests, and digging his knee between his legs. Hy moaned into the kiss, shaking as he pushed Finch away.

"N--no, I can't. I love Michael," Hy gasped.

"And I am not asking you to stop," Finch murmured, threading his fingers into Hy's long curls and pulling them free of their high ponytail, allowing his hair to tumble about his shoulders.

"I didn't even think you liked me," Hy pleaded weakly, as Finch pulled down the collar of his tee shirt, tasting the skin it revealed. "It's not like you're all that nice to me."

"Accept this as an apology then," Finch said, making Hy shiver as he kissed him once more. "I have, I'll admit, an infatuation with the way you flush when I anger you. Your lover has rejected you, no? You deserve to know you are still wanted. Why will you not let me show you?"

"I think he's already said no, Finch," Hisoka said, stepping into the light. Finch's head shot up in surprise, his face coloring darkly. He pulled away, Hy sliding down the wall in a boneless heap, as Finch tossed his head back and tried to give an illusion of composure.

"You are correct. I apologize for my behavior, and assure you I will make no more unwelcome advances," Finch said shakily, holding his head high as he stiffly made his way past Hisoka and back to the camp.

"Thanks, Hisoka," Hy said, his face scarlet as he dazedly looked at the floor. "That was damned close. If you hadn't come in when you did --"

"I know," Hisoka said with a sigh, sitting beside him. "You would have regretted it."

"I just don't understand," Hy said, wiping at his eyes and sniffing. "I love Michael. I do, it's just -- well, I would kinda like to know what it's like. I guess I must be a sucker for accents." Hy laughed hollowly and blushed. "It was nice, being wanted."

"What happened with you and Michael? You don't have to tell me, but --" Hisoka started. Hy shook his head.

"No, it's okay," Hy said with a sigh. "I sort of tried to seduce him, I guess. He wasn't interested. In fact, he pushed me away and told me he had made a huge mistake by getting involved with me."

"Hy," Hisoka said, giving him an awkward pat on the back, as he broke into fresh tears and placed his head to his knees.

"He said he loved me, so I just thought it was a given that he'd --" Hy said. "I felt like such a fool. I thought maybe my being lame was a turn-off."

"I'm sure that has nothing to do with it," Hisoka said.

"He said some stuff about how he'd been lying to me, about how everything had been a lie," Hy said, turning to Hisoka. "But he has to still like me a little bit. I mean, he was jealous of you." Hisoka pulled his hand away, looking stunned. Hy gave a small laugh at his expression.

"He thought there was something going on, 'cause you're so nice to me," Hy explained. "Guess it's Finch he should've been worried about. Who knew?"

Hisoka and Hy made their way back to the others, and as Hisoka passed Finch on his way back to Tsuzuki, the dark haired boy gave him a pained smile.

"I was in good spirits this evening. You rather ended them," Finch said softly.

"You had no right," Hisoka said.

"Hy is not a child, and he appears to be free of his relationship. I did nothing wrong in acting on my attraction to him," Finch said with a sniff, turning his head defiantly.

"And what of Alain, then?" Hisoka asked. Finch's eyes widened, before stifling a bitter laugh.

"He is not my lover, despite his regretful attachment to me," Finch said. "I will tell you, since you ask, then. He is my brother."

"But -- but why then?" Hisoka asked, taken aback.

"He does not know, and I do not wish for him to. My mother was a woman of loose morals, and it was from her household that he was sent into the orphanage. This was after I myself had passed on. I knew of his past, as I was the one who collected him when he himself died," Finch said, the strange, sad smile never quite leaving his lips. "You might think the judgment bureau cruel in sending one sibling to collect another, but I insisted on it. I did not wish for him to work with the ministry, but he was stubborn, and so I asked for him as a partner. I did not like the danger field work put him in, nor the way he misinterpreted my affection for him, and suggested his transfer."

Hisoka nodded, unsure of what to say as he digested this information. Finch turned onto his side, and Hisoka continued on, nearly being startled off balance, as Watari sat up quickly as if he'd only been pretending to sleep.

"You are such a gossip magnet!" Watari hissed in a whisper, as he pulled Hisoka down beside him. "Did you really just catch Finch getting it on with little Hy-chan? This is better than a soap opera! I'm so glad I came with you guys."

"Watari, please just let me go back to bed," Hisoka groaned.

"You're going nowhere until you spill," Watari said firmly. Hisoka sighed in exasperation, fixing Watari with a determined look.

"If it's gossip you want so badly, then I'll give you some that is my own to give," Hisoka said, nearly growling with anger as he wrenched himself free of Watari's grip. "I have had a very long night, or whatever it is outside, and I have every intention of hauling Tsuzuki over there into the next cave for some privacy."

Hisoka got back to their sleeping bag to find Tsuzuki fully alert and jumping to his feet.

"Let's go," Tsuzuki said with a grin, grabbing Hisoka by the hand and practically dragging him along behind him.

XXXX

Hisoka laid sprawled across the chest of his lover, the sweat cooling on his back and making him shiver. Tsuzuki kissed him gently, and stared up at him lovingly.

"If you think about it, we've made love in threes continents so far," Tsuzuki said with a grin. "Want to try for all of them eventually?"

"Baka," Hisoka muttered, rolling off him and searching for his clothes. He looked back over his shoulder at Tsuzuki's slight pout, and gave him a smile. "I don't think I'd want to have sex in Antarctica. It's cold enough in a cave."

"You're probably right," Tsuzuki said, sitting up and hurrying to get dressed himself.

"The others are probably awake by now. Do you think we'll have to wade through anything else? I really didn't like the smell of the water in some of those places," Hisoka said, trying not to look too closely at his own skin as he started to pull on his sweater. The marks were there. They always came back, no matter how well Tsuzuki made him forget about them.

Hisoka glanced up curiously when Tsuzuki didn't answer, and saw him looking toward the cave opening. Following his gaze, he saw Michael standing in the dim light, staring at him with a startled expression. Hisoka realized he had seen the cursed patterns running along his back as he'd dressed, and looked away with a feeling of bitter shame.

"Did you come to fetch us?" Tsuzuki asked. Michael nodded, and fled back the way he came.

XXXX

"When she said the shortcut would be yucky, this wasn't exactly what I had pictured," Watari said with a shudder, echoing Hisoka's own thoughts.

Sophie had led them into dilapidated ossuary, where human bones were stacked along the walls all the way up to the low ceiling. In several places, the skulls and femurs had been neatly stacked into patterns, like works of macabre artwork that might have been seen in the Fragonard Museum.

"These must have come from several thousand bodies," Hisoka whispered in awe.

"And there are millions more," Finch said. "The population of the dead here exceeds that of the living above."

The chamber narrowed alarmingly at one end where it had begun to collapse in upon itself. There were a few gaps in the dirt and rubble, one just barely large enough to accommodate a man. Sophie pointed.

"Yep, that's the hole they told me about. Here's the really yucky part," Sophie said.

"If by yucky you mean it may collapse and kill us!" Watari exclaimed, looking at the tunnel dubiously.

"We should go one at a time, just in case," Tsuzuki said. "If it does collapse, it would be far worse if more than one of us were trapped. I'll go first." Hisoka stepped forward instinctively, taking his arm as if to prevent him, but said nothing. It was a sound decision whether or not he liked it.

"I don't think it's very deep, at least," Sophie said. Tsuzuki nodded.

"Give me a three minute head start before anyone follows," Tsuzuki said. He placed a quick kiss to Hisoka's forehead before crawling into the gap on his hands and knees.

They watched the tunnel in silence, each of them counting off the seconds in their mind tensely. Hisoka held his breath, staring into the blackness that has swallowed Tsuzuki. Though no call or reassurance came upon the third minute, Hisoka followed, feeling somewhat better in the knowledge that at least he'd heard nothing more ominous.

The passage was littered with bones, and the pocket sized flashlight he gripped in his teeth revealed little ahead. His knee shattered a brittle skull, the bone digging in painfully, and he muffled his cry, afraid that any noise would cause a rupture. It was with relief on more levels than one that he finally heard Tsuzuki call his name ahead.

He came out into a small cave, the nooks along its wall covered in unlit red candles that had left trails of wax down the stone that appeared unnervingly at a glance like blood.

"Spooky little place isn't it?" Tsuzuki said, glancing around after Hisoka climbed out. Hisoka threw his arms around him, nearly throwing him off balance.

"Don't tell me you were worried, baby?" Tsuzuki murmured softly into his hair, hugging him back so tightly he could hardly breathe.

The next one out of the tunnel was Michael, who looked back anxiously, trying to peer through the darkness. After a few moments, they heard an echoed curse that was unmistakably Hy's, followed by a low rumble. Michael all but dove into the opening, grabbing Hy's arms and pulling him out as the tunnel collapsed in a cloud of dust. When it cleared, Hy was sprawled in a heap upon Michael, who had fallen backwards, covered in fine layer of gray dirt and panting heavily.

"Damn shin bone dug into my bum shin," Hy said breathlessly, his eyes wide. Michael's lips quivered, and he shook, before breaking into relieved laughter, winding his arms around Hy, who began to laugh as well.

"Well, we know no one else was inside, at least. The three minutes gave us plenty of time to clear the way," Tsuzuki said.

"What are we going to do, though? We can't go any further without the others. We're not even sure where we're going!" Hisoka said with a sigh.

"The pile of rubble between us isn't very wide," Tsuzuki said, looking at it appraisingly. "Watari might be able to figure out something. Sophie may be able to find a way around that takes longer, since she did refer to this as a shortcut, as well. I guess all there is to do now is wait."


	18. Chapter 18

"We should probably stick pretty close together. There's no telling how close we are now or what we might run into," Hisoka said.

"I think we should just stay where we are. Any wandering might get us lost, and at least the others have an idea of where we're waiting," Tsuzuki said, lighting a few of the candles along the wall.

"What a weird place to leave a bunch of candles. It almost looks like someone was doing some sort of voodoo ritual in here or something," Hy said, which caused a rather uncomfortable silence in response. "Um, maybe that wasn't the best way to word it," Hy added hastily. He looked at Michael, who had spread out his bag to sit on and approached cautiously as if to see if their temporary truce was holding before sitting beside him.

"I still think it might have been a good thing if Alain had come along in order to see if he sensed anything," Hisoka said, running his hands along the walls in search of any trace spiritual residue that may provide them with a clue as to what the place had been used for. "Finch said that there was a key difference between our powers, in that I sense only human emotion. I sense your emotions when you're not guarding them, Tsuzuki. Even when you were being controlled, by what he described as your demonic side, that side was able to use your emotions against me, remember?"

Hisoka looked back at Tsuzuki for a response, before pulling away from the wall with a gasp, his face flushing darkly.

"What's wrong, Hisoka?" Tsuzuki said, springing up from where he sat. Hisoka waved him away dismissively, sitting down next to his pack with an irritated scowl.

"Nothing," Hisoka said, not meeting his eyes. "What went on here was definitely nothing to do with what we're after."

"Aw, come on! Even if it isn't, you've got me curious now," Tsuzuki teased.

"I saw flashes of some sort of - orgy or something, all right?" Hisoka snapped, pulling a bottle of hand sanitizer from his pack with a shudder. "Sophie was definitely right when she said all sorts of unimaginable things went on down here."

Tsuzuki looked at the walls as if he himself might catch a glimpse of the debauchery, before spotting something.

"Look there," Tsuzuki said, stepping closer to examine a crudely carved marking. "It's in English. It says 'If the children have led you here, turn back now.' What do you think it means?"

"Think it might be about those two varmits I saw steal the files? From what that Sam guy said, it sounds like they like to mess with tourists and get them lost," Hy said.

"That sounds very possible. We must be close to something," Hisoka said, looking anxiously at the low, rounded arch that led to the network of subterranean passageways beyond.

The men settled into companionable silence despite their underlying tension, Hisoka leaning heavily upon Tsuzuki, still tired from not getting much rest from their previous stop. Tsuzuki coaxed him into lying down, and he acquiesced, his exhaustion overcoming his pride, pillowing his head against Tsuzuki's thigh. He felt Michael's gaze upon him, and self-consciously pulled at where his shirt had ridden up.

"You have the markings of Cassandra Molve," Michael said sadly, breaking the silence. "She must have been the one who hurt you." Hisoka looked at him, stunned.

"No, it was Muraki," Hisoka said softly.

"Muraki learned of the curse from her, though," Tsuzuki said. "He told me after he himself killed her."

"So she is dead. You are sure of it?" Michael asked. Tsuzuki nodded.

"Her aunt seemed pretty sure of it anyway, and she seemed like someone who would know," Tsuzuki said, shuddering slightly at the memory of the elderly Roma woman who was feared as being a powerful witch.

"Yes, if Carmen Cioaba says so, then it is true. She would never protect her," Michael said, his brow furrowing in thought. "I had traveled to where she was said to have died myself, but found nothing. They came back when he died. I had to be sure -"

"Michael?" Hy asked uneasily, staring at him. "I know I told you all about my friends, but I don't remember telling you all this stuff. Heck, I didn't even remember that witch woman's name! How do you know about all that? What are you talking about?" Hisoka tried to piece together all that had been said in his mind, shocked as realization began to dawn upon him.

"She marked you, didn't she?" Hisoka asked, sitting up. "And you said they came back when _he_ died. You mean Mircea, don't you?"

Michael flinched at the name, and nodded slowly. Hy stared at him in utter shock, and Michael refused to meet his eyes.

"You didn't want me to see," Hy whispered.

"I told you that I died during the war. This is true, though it was not in battle," Michael said.

"You were cursed," Hisoka said. Michael nodded.

"I joined the army when I was sixteen. All of my brothers, and my father enlisted despite my mother begging us to flee to Romania. Within a year, all my siblings were dead, even Thomas, who was but twelve.

I decided to desert and go home to mother once I knew they were gone. My mother was a frail woman, not like she is now, and I knew her heart could not bear the news. I thought if perhaps I returned to her, it would give her strength.

It was a very long, treacherous journey, but I made it as far as Louisiana eventually, stealing food from farms I passed and staying clear of main roads. I was a fugitive for deserting, and when I returned home, mother and I fled to Europe under different names.

We found relatives in a small Romanian village to take us in, and things were peaceful for a while. I used to hunt for food out in the forest with the rifle I'd been issued by the army.

There had been rumors of a very rough group of Roma thieves that had recently terrorized a neighboring village camping out in our forest, but I was young and foolish and disregarded them. I even thought I might be able to chase them off if I ran across them, and went as deeply into the woods as I ever did to hunt.

As fate would have it, I did eventually come across them, and they ambushed me. I managed to kill one of them with my rifle before they dragged me back to their camp, and I was sure they were going to murder me when they got me there, but instead they just tied me up and handed me over to a woman who was with them. I was really surprised to see a woman among them at all, and even more so when I saw that she was clearly their leader. She was set up in this crude shack that was full of frightening things," Michael said with a shudder, crossing himself.

"Cassandra Molve," Hy whispered, receiving a nod from Michael.

"The man I had killed had been her lover," Michael said. "I - I don't want to talk about all that happened to me there. It is too horrible to speak of. They - those men and that horrible woman - they took everything from me, and nearly had my sanity as well before I escaped them.

I don't remember how I got back. The next thing I remember clearly was recovering in my own home, my mother keeping vigil over me.

She said that I was in danger, and when she saw the marks upon me, she knew that someone had placed a horrible curse upon my life. I wasted away and died a few months later. My mother succumbed to illness and grief shortly after, and we met again in the afterlife, when we became guardians.

I retained the new name I had taken in life when I became a guardian. My name at that time was Viorel Lior."

XXXX

Hisoka placed a hand to his temple, a memory of anguish assaulting his senses, as he pitched forward slightly.

"Hisoka?" Tsuzuki asked, placing his hands upon his shoulders.

"I remember your name now," Hisoka gasped. "You were Mircea's lover, the one he told us was killed. That's your name on that document Finch found."

"Mircea's - lover?" Hy whispered, turning an imploring gaze onto Michael, who was biting his lip and staring at the ground.

"It was after my death that my mother took her life. We became _pazitor de moarte_, as you know," Michael continued, as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Mother seemed to find a sense of purpose in her new role, and she trained very hard, while I was less suited to the profession. Within decades, she already held a high rank within the Ministry and was well on her way to becoming the head of summons, as she is now. She pushed me to improve, and when Mircea, the most accomplished of all our guardians, needed a new partner, she made sure that I was the one assigned to him. It did not take her long to regret this decision."

"Because you fell in love with him?" Hy asked. Michael gave a caustic smile.

"Because he seduced me," Michael said. "It was hardly a challenge for him with his position over me. I was but a child then, really. I admired him, and he was beautiful and charming. He used his powers to lift my curse and I was grateful to him.

I was to learn, after the start of our affair, that Mircea was well known for his predilection for taking young lovers, spurning them eventually when they expected fidelity. He idealized my youth and innocence, and I do believe that perhaps he loved me, in his way. I do not believe he meant me the harm my mother insisted he did.

Despite the disapproval of my mother, we remained partners and were assigned to pursue Cassandra Molve. She eluded us, toyed with us, and we were to clean up after her countless atrocities. She was aware of our presence, and she was not afraid.

It was when she became aware of my identity, however, that her threats extended to myself as well. Mircea and myself had tracked her to the mountains around a small village, where we lodged in its only inn. He insisted we go the town's pub, though I was not feeling well, and we fought on the way there. I returned alone, and got lost on the way, and when I found the inn I saw Cassandra standing in the street before it, shortly before the place went up in flames.

There were many mortals there, women and children, and my first instinct was to help them. Cassandra had not seen me, and I managed to go in through the back, to see if there were anyone I could rescue. What I had not realized were the dark powers she had woven around the place before she lit the flame, which would allow no one inside to leave."

"How did you escape?" Hy asked.

"I abandoned my corporeal form, and went back to the Ministry," Michael said, shaking his head. "In my panic, I knew no other alternative. My mother convinced me to take back my real name and go into hiding. I never saw Mircea again."

"You stayed hidden all those years?" Hy asked. Michael nodded.

"There were very few within the Ministry who knew I had survived, and it was far too dangerous for Mircea to know. He was too closely tied to Cassandra's case. Mother was relieved to have me away from his influence, in any case, believing that he had turned me into a sinner, and that I needed redemption. She relocated us to a remote village in Hungary, where she continued to train me.

I felt it, when he died. The ward he had used to break her magic on me was still there. The marks returned, and even when my father had come to see us, and told us that Cassandra was gone, I wanted to see for myself the place where she had met her end," Michael said.

"And that was why you came to stay with me and Jarrett?" Hy asked.

"Initially, yes. You cannot begin to know how it affected me, the way you and my father accepted me into your home. I was terrified when I came to you. After so many years without the company of others, I feared that I would never be able to relate normally to people again. My mother - she is the greatest woman I know, but she is not one to be open in her affections.

But you, you always made me feel at ease. I had never been happier than the time I've spent with you. So many times I have meant to let you see, to tell you everything, but I just didn't know how. I wasn't sure how to make you understand," Michael said with a pleading look. Hy took a deep breath, before slowly taking Michael's hand in his.

"You're a lot older than me, Michael, and I guess sometimes it's easy for me to forget that, since you don't look any older than me, but I'm not going to hold having a life before me against you," Hy said. "But you're going to have to start telling me things, instead of making me wonder. When you pulled away from me like that, well, it hurt me real bad."

Hisoka gestured to Tsuzuki to come with him to the other end of the small cave, while the two young men huddled in the corner trying to sort through all the secrets that had just been laid bare.

"We should give them privacy," Hisoka said with a heavy sigh. "We'll worry about what Viorel's death certificate has to do with all this when the others return. Right now I'm sure Hy has some questions that we have no right to eavesdrop on."

Tsuzuki stared into the dark void beyond the cave for a moment, a pensive look on his face. Hisoka sat against the wall beside him and leant against his shoulder with a questioning look. Tsuzuki wound an arm around him and swallowed hard.

"My earliest memories are of growing up on a farm, with my mother, Ruka, and a man I knew wasn't my father…"


End file.
